My Thoughts (May 14)

Eastern Conference Final Game 1

Tampa Bay Lightning @ Pittsburgh Penguins

         The conference finals began last night with the Tampa Bay Lightning facing off against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. This series is expected to feature lots of speed and scoring. This, however, was not the story last night. Here’s why:

         The Lightning began as the speedier team in the 1^st period. About 30 seconds in, Victor Hedman was just inches away from scoring the game’s 1^st goal, but the puck rang off the post. 2:50 into the game, Ryan Callahan hit Kris Letang hard into the boards, temporarily taking him out of the game. Callahan received a 5-minute major penalty for boarding, but Pittsburgh couldn’t make anything out of their power play. At the 12:25 mark of the 1^st period, Lightning goalie Ben Bishop suffered an injury and had to be carried off on a stretcher. The Penguins got Letang back shortly after, but the Lightning broke the ice when Alex Killorn scored five-hole on a semi-breakaway at 18:46.

         While the Penguins had scoring chances in the 1^st period, I thought Tampa Bay did a very good job defending against their speed and blocking shots. In the 2^nd period, the Lightning would continue to do this, and it achieved more success. At 2:33, Ondrej Palat made it 2-0 when he scored off a rebound for a power play goal. Late in the period, as the Penguins tried to press the attack, Tampa Bay got a lucky bounce off a shot block, generating a 3 on 1. Rookie Johnathan Drouin blasted a shot into the net behind Matt Murray to make it 3-0 at 18:25. Though it appeared Pittsburgh was out of gas at this point in the game, they finally got on the board when Patric Hornqvist scored a power play goal at 19:05.

         While the Penguins were a little more urgent in the 3^rd, the Lightning continued to frustrate Pittsburgh with their tight defense and solid play from backup goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Lightning would go on to win the game 3-1. While the Lightning may have won game 1, I think some bad blood is developing between these two teams. I feel the hit on Letang will have ramifications throughout the series. Though Bishop is injured, I think the battle between young goaltenders will also shake things up a bit. I expect the rest of this series to be long but exciting.