The Tampa Bay Lightning’s first game coming out of the all-star break was a matchup between teams expected to make deep runs in the postseason.
Yes, it was just one of 82 against a non-conference opponent, but the way the game played out with its frenetic pace, exemplary display of skill and wild ending certainly gave it a playoff feel.
In the end Thursday night, the Lightning couldn’t come through with a tying goal with an extra attacker, falling 3-2 to the Avalanche. The teams’ first meeting in October needed six rounds of shootouts to end in a Colorado victory.
“That’s two elite teams,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “When you’re getting everybody’s best all the time, are they fun to be a part of? For sure. But it’s not fun being on this end of it. But it would be great to see them again.”
The Lightning had their share of obstacles. Playing their first game in nine days, they were welcomed by high altitude and thin air and the hottest team in the NHL. Colorado (33-8-4) has a franchise-record 18-game point streak.
The Lightning found themselves down two goals in a flash at Ball Arena. They were frazzled by Colorado’s forecheck, and the Avalanche’s speed and precision passing had the Lightning looking lost early as they tried to play a possession game instead of a quicker chip-and-chase contest.
Despite their rocky start, the Lightning had a chance to tie late while playing with an extra attacker and an empty net in the final 3:14. The Lightning unloaded eight shots — six other shot attempts were blocked — in 6-on-5, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
“It was exciting,” center Brayden Point said. “The rink was buzzing. We had some chances to tie it up and that one shift where they had the icing, I think we had zone time for quite a while there and we had our looks. But give them credit. They kept it out and sealed the win.”
The Lightning already trailed 2-0 less than seven minutes into the game. A goal by Nikita Kucherov, returning to the lineup after missing the last three games before the break, sent Tampa Bay into the first intermission down by one. But Tampa Bay was completely outplayed in the first period (outshot 24-10).
“They came out skating,” Point said. “Obviously they’re a fast team. We knew that coming in. But they really showed that in the first. We were short skating, we weren’t skating with them, kind of stuck in the mud, trying to make too many passes, trying to pass our way out of the zone instead of working our way out of the zone, and they exposed us.”
The Lightning cut the Colorado lead to one twice, with Point assisting on one goal and scoring another.
Kucherov’s move through the neutral zone spun Colorado defenseman J.T. Compher around and started a give-and-go with Point that he finished in the back of the net with 9:15 left, a score that calmed the Lightning.
But Tampa Bay allowed its second 4-on-4 goal of the game 1:56 into the second period on Valeri Nichushkin’s shot.
Moments after Colorado goaltender Darcy Kuemper made a marvelous save on Point’s backhanded attempt in front, Colorado had a 2-on-1 going the other way, and Nichushkin got past Andrei Vasilevskiy, who had 44 saves in the loss, top shelf.
Mikhail Sergachev sent a stretch pass through the neutral zone, parting two Colorado players, to Point, who finished with a forehand shot over Kuemper’s glove to cut the lead to one again with 4:06 left in the second.
“We sped our game up,” Cooper said. “I don’t think we could have played it any slower to start, and I think we went backwards more than we went forward and really fed into their game and sure enough, they’re up 2-0. That’s where the game was the difference. When we sped our game up, we were on top and we were working, we were skating, we were more than fine.
“But we gave those guys that first 10 to 12 minutes and in the end, it cost us.”
