The Tampa Bay Lightning continue to live by the mantra of “home sweet home” with an overtime win against the New Jersey Devils. They have now won back-to-back games. In both of these overtime wins, the game-winning goal was scored by a defenseman.
Why does this matter? It’s a reflection of two recent upward trends for the Lightning. Their fortunes continue to improve in overtime as well as increased scoring production from the defense.
Less Sweat for the Lightning After Regulation
During the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs and into this regular season, going into overtime became a death sentence for the Lightning. They lost all three home games against the Maple Leafs in overtime in the playoffs along with the first four trips to overtime to start the season.
It revealed the consequences of blown leads, failed comebacks and defensive struggles. Since then, the script has completely flipped for the Lightning. They’ve won five of their last six trips to overtime and the shootout, including a win in their last four.
Earlier in the season, there was the consolation of at least picking up one point and staying afloat in the standings. But these extra points add up. Even with other teams having multiple games in hand, these wins in overtime have been one of the differences between the Lightning being in the second wild card spot and being behind multiple teams for a playoff spot.
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The same goes for the games they lost early in the season. Perhaps they’re one of the top three teams in the Atlantic Division right now.
Defense is Getting in on Scoring
The Lightning defense only had seven goals in the first 32 games of the season. Five of these goals belonged to Victor Hedman. Very little scoring production was going around.
However, in the last 10 games, the Lightning have seven goals in their last 11 games. Though he had a game-winner in the shootout against the Washington Capitals on Dec. 23, Hedman has one goal outside of that during this stretch. The rest of the group has stepped up to give him a hand. Darren Raddysh has scored three goals in his last five games, including the game-winner against the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 11. Nick Perbix scored the winning goal against the Los Angeles Kings back on Tuesday night (Jan. 9).
As mentioned earlier, improvement in one area has elevated the team in another area as well. Other defensemen who have gotten on the scoresheet include Calvin De Haan and Haydn Fleury. While Fleury is now on the long-term injured reserve (LTIR), the rest of the squad is starting to find some of their stride. This is especially key with Mikhail Sergachev expected to miss significant time – already on the LTIR – and Erik Cernak potentially hurt again – he left the game against the Devils early with an upper-body injury and did not return.
Another added importance to the added scoring by the defense is the extra production from outside the core. Nikita Kucherov has not scored yet on this homestand, but the Lightning have pulled out two wins.
The Lightning’s current depth is still an issue and there’s still much to be addressed. But these recent trends have translated to wins they maybe should not have had – and this was not something they were saying as often early on.
The Lightning continue their homestand this Saturday when they host the Anaheim Ducks, who they will play for the first time this season. They then return for a game against the Minnesota Wild after a four-day break on Thursday, Jan. 20.
