The Lightning’s Alex Killorn lined up for a faceoff against the Blue Jackets’ Pierre-Luc Dubois halfway through the second period of Saturday’s Game 3 in the first-round series.
Columbus retained possession from the faceoff, working in its defensive zone before attempting to advance the puck. But right wing Oliver Bjorkstrand met Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh along the boards, losing possession in the process. The play concluded with the Lightning in goaltender Joonas Korpisalo’s face as right wing Nikita Kucherov got off a shot. Though Korpisalo made the save to keep the score tied at 1, the tone was set.
It was the type of defense that Tampa Bay played most of the game, limiting Columbus to seven shots on goal over the last two periods en route to a 3-2 victory and a 2-1 series lead in Toronto.
“I think the second and third period was the way we want to play,” defenseman Victor Hedman said after the win. “We made it hard on them, and we limited them to three shots in the third, so I was very happy with the way we responded to that.”
The Lightning’s defensive efforts stood out in the second and third periods after giving up three penalties in the first 10 minutes of the game.
“It’s no secret,” coach Jon Cooper said. “If you’re not giving them chances, your chances of winning get better, and we were really liking our offensive responsibility. ... When you’re keeping them in their zone, when the puck comes out, they’re changing instead of having an opportunity to play offense, and I thought if you can keep them on their heels, it’s going to be a benefit to us.”
The stronger defense resulted in more offensive chances for the Lightning, especially when it came to Victor Hedman. The Norris Trophy finalist as the league’s top defenseman tied Kucherov for the team’s second-most shots (4) in the game, trailing only McDonagh (6).
Hedman’s winning goal late in the second period came as he trailed behind the four other Lightning players on the ice. Hedman was able to race up the open slot as center Carter Verhaeghe found him uncovered.
Over the course of the postseason, Columbus has 264 shots over 31 periods (including three incomplete overtime periods, two during the qualifying series against Toronto and one against Tampa Bay on Tuesday) for an average of 8.42 shots per period. On Saturday, the Blue Jackets had nearly 4.5 fewer shots in the second period and 5.4 fewer in the third.
Columbus coach John Tortorella said Saturday that his team showed signs of fatigue from the abundance of hockey they’ve played in a short period of time.
“We’re not the team we need to be, obviously, in the series,” he said of his club’s production after the game’s first 12 minutes.
The Blue Jackets have played eight games over the course of two weeks, playing every other day with the exception of a back-to-backs midway through the qualifying round. And both of those games ended in overtime. Plus there was the five-overtime game to open the series against the Lightning.
The defense getting involved in the offense was a huge lift for the Lightning in Game 3. Keeping pressure on the Jackets in the defensive zone helped, too. The Lightning wasn’t stagnant with the puck, moving it from one player to the next and keeping Columbus moving as well.
Previously, Cooper had mentioned the importance of not sacrificing defense for offense. He has preached of sticking to the game plan, even when his team might not score the first goal of the game.
“You just got to stick to your structure because if you don’t, they can get you,” Cooper said. “I thought for the most part (Saturday), we really stayed to our structure, and it paid off in the end.”
Contact Mari Faiello at mfaiello@tampabay.com. Follow @faiello_mari.
https://www.tampabay.com/sports/lightning/2020/08/16/lightnings-defensive-efforts-stand-out-in-game-3-against-blue-jackets/
2020-08-16 21:16:00Z
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