Ousted Lightning can’t panic now
The official Lightning inquisition into their playoff implosion hasn’t been scheduled, but fans are already assigning blame.
Coach Jon Cooper for not having the team postseason ready. Top players Nikita Kucherov, Steve Stamkos and Brayden Point for their lack of scoring. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for his .856 series save percentage. General manager Julien BriseBois for not being bold at the trade deadline. Steve Yzerman for stepping down as GM. Everyone has a favorite scapegoat. Emotions are still too raw to draw rational conclusions. Nobody can move beyond the disappointment of watching the Lightning post one of the top two regular-season records in NHL history and then fail to win a game in the first round against a Blue Jackets team that was the No. 8 qualifier in the Eastern Conference.
When major upsets occur, two events always follow: overreaction, and unwillingness of the losing fan base to accept that the opponent played a significant role in the outcome.
The No. 1 reason the Lightning are out of the playoffs is that the Blue Jackets played like champions in the first round.
They were relentless and disciplined and moved the puck like a top offensive team.
Maybe the question we should be asking isn’t why the Lightning weren’t as sharp in the playoffs, but rather, why weren’t the Blue Jackets better in the regular season?
When the Lightning do their postmortem, they will likely conclude it was a confluence of factors that led to their disastrous result.
Coaches will break down their special-teams strategy because they were ranked No. 1 overall in the power play and penalty kill in the regular season and their special teams hurt them badly against the Blue Jackets.
Vasilevskiy didn’t play as well as Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. But Vasilevskiy is only 24, and he’s going to improve.
Injuries to defenseman Anton Stralman and Victor Hedman also contributed to the result.
Should the Blue Jackets be given credit for shutting down Tampa Bay’s top scorers or should we blame the scorers for not figuring out how to break through? Usually, it’s a combination.
Regardless of what happened in these playoffs, changes were coming. The Lightning are up against the salary cap, and defensemen Stralman, Braydon Coburn and Dan Girardi will become unrestricted free agents. Plus, Point will be a restricted free agent and will be expecting a significant raise from the $686,667 he earned this year during his entry-level deal.
A trade or two seem likely. J.T. Miller seems like one possibility to be moved.
The Lightning must guard against overreaction being mistaken as a sound conclusion. In these situations, it’s easy to start believing that the mix isn’t right or that you can’t win with certain players.
The Capitals failed for a number of years despite being a strong regularseason team. But management chose not to overreact. It kept the core group together and made changes around the edge.
How many years did we hear that the Capitals couldn’t win with Alex Ovechkin? Right up until the point he was hoisting the Stanley Cup above his head last June.