Stamkos leading by example for playoff-bound Lightning
NEW YORK » Although the Tampa Bay Lightning’s visit to Madison Square Garden on Friday night was certainly memorable for the returns of former Rangers Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and J.T. Miller, there were some other things that unfolded during the game itself that will have more of a significant impact.
Even with the Lightning already have locked up their playoff position — buoyed by their 7-3 destruction of the Blueshirts at New York’s home finale — it was hard to ignore captain Steven Stamkos backchecking hard early in the game, twice tying up the stick of speedy forward Chris Kreider on rushes to the net.
It’s that kind of attention to detail, not to mention leading by example, that will be critical for the Lightning as they seek to make a return to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2015.
“Well, I’m glad you were paying attention to the game and saw that, because a lot of times that goes unnoticed, so I appreciated that,” Stamkos said through a big smile to the reporter who asked him about it.
“He actually was upset that I was backchecking so hard on him on those plays. We want to play the right way, we’ve been trying to preach that for a while. The offensive stuff hasn’t been going my way personally lately, so I’m trying to dig deep and battle through that stuff and trying not to let other areas of the game slip. Obviously, it was a tight game, and the first couple shifts it’s 0-0. So, you just want to play the right way.”
His teammates followed suit, particularly the aforementioned trio of returning Rangers, who were greeted with an emotional video tribute that took place prior to the game.
Both Girardi and Miller scored on their old team, while the Rangers former captain, McDonagh, was second in ice time with 23:01 and had two blocked shots.
“It felt nice,” said Miller of scoring. “It was hard with a lot of emotions and thoughts coming into this game. You just want to go out and play your game and luckily, got one to come on my stick in front of the net. A month ago, I didn’t expect to have to play this game. You try to keep it together during the game as much as possible. A lot of good friends there on the other side so you try to keep it serious and professional during the game. It was a cool experience what they did for me here.”