TAMPA, Fla.— The Lightning are looking for answers to their power play struggles, and on Wednesday that included switching up their man-advantage units.
Following an 0-for-5 night in which the power play managed just five shots on goal in 8:50, the Lightning are now 5-for-32 (15.6 percent) over their past eight games.
Compounding their special teams frustrations, they’ve allowed three short-handed goals over the past four games, including Warren Foegele’s opening goal in Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Oilers.
“When you get to the power play, when it starts not working is when you exhale and you get out there and say, ‘OK, we’ve got the extra guy and now we can relax,’” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “To me, you have to work as hard on the power plays as you do 5-on-5 or any other part of the game. And I think at times, we’ve exhaled.”
The Lightning concentrated heavily on the power play during the early part of Wednesday’s practice at Amalie Arena and made some notable changes to their man-advantage units.
Mikhail Sergachev worked with the first group as its defenseman, with Victor Hedman moving to the second. Forward Brandon Hagel moved up to the first unit but shifted from the left circle to the end line, and Vladislav Namestnikov returned to the second unit.
“We are trying to do what’s best for our team, and we want to put guys in position to succeed,” Cooper said. “But again, it’s not like we’re handing out Halloween candy. Everybody’s got to work for it. We’ve been together for a long time, this group, and they can self-correct pretty easily.”
Sergachev quarterbacked the Lightning’s first power-play unit last week when Hedman was out with an upper-body injury and contributed a goal and an assist. The Lightning power play is 1-for-21 over Hedman’s last six games.
Tampa Bay opened the season with power-play goals in each of its first five games, going 10-for-22 before cooling down. Five of its six goals during that hot streak came from Steven Stamkos, who hasn’t had a power-play goal since.
It’s not as if the Lightning haven’t had opportunities with the man-advantage, including at least five power plays three times in the past four games. But they’ve gone 3-for-19 over that stretch, including 1-for-8 Nov. 1 against Ottawa. They’ve struggled not only creating chances but also on entries into the offensive zone to set up the power play.
“I think you just try to outwork the PK (penalty kill),” Lightning center Brayden Point said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. If passing through them is not working, I think you’ve just got to simplify and shoot and try to outwork the PK and create your own bounces, I guess. And then if you get one, you start to feel better and start to get that confidence back.”
Kane expected to miss three to four months
The Oilers’ Evander Kane, who needed surgery to repair a deep gash to his left wrist sustained during Tuesday’s game against the Lightning, is expected to miss the next three to four months recovering. But he promised in a social media post that he will be back on the ice.
Kane rushed frantically off the ice holding his arm early in the second period after Pat Maroon’s left skate blade accidentally sliced his arm. Kane left a spot of blood on the ice as he disappeared down the tunnel. He was stabilized at Amalie Arena and then was taken to a local hospital for surgery to repair the wrist.
“Obviously, (Tuesday) night was an extremely scary moment for me, and I’m still in a little bit of shock,” Kane said in a Twitter post Wednesday. “I would like to thank the entire training staff of the Edmonton Oilers and Tampa Bay Lightning, along with all the doctors and paramedics who rushed to help treat and repair my injury. Without all of you, I know things would have been much worse and I’m sincerely grateful. I won’t be back next game, but I will be back and I look forward to being back on the ice playing the game I love alongside my teammates in front of our great fans.”
The Oilers on Wednesday placed Kane on long-term injured reserve.
Lightning holding 30 years celebration
The Lightning announced plans for a fan event to celebrate 30 years of the franchise Dec. 7 at Tampa Theater from 7:30-9 p.m.
The event, titled “A Night With the Bolts: Celebrating 30 Years,” will feature alumni from all three decades of Lightning hockey. Guests will include Brian Bradley, Daren Puppa, Dave Andreychuk, Ruslan Fedotenko, Vinny Prospal, Dwayne Roloson, Ryan Malone and Braydon Coburn.
The team had a fan event to celebrate the Lightning’s 30th anniversary planned for last month, but it was canceled due to Hurricane Ian.
Tickets for the event, which will be $35 each, will go on sale to the general public Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. at Tampabaylightning.com/TampaTheater. A special pre-sale event will begin Nov. 10 at 10 am.
