“We’ve had enough, and it’s when you’ve had enough that you’ve got to start to rely on yourself and look yourself in the mirror. And I think everyone’s done that, and we’ve got to keep doing it.”
After a strong showing in Boston and Carolina, the Lightning put together another firm defensive performance. With the win last night against Washington, they've managed to outscore their opponents 9-1 in the past two games. This wasn’t the story a week ago.
A combination of events added to the rollercoaster that was March. Scheduling: The Lightning played 19 games in 33 days, frustration with their play and the overall grind that comes with competing in three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals. They’re a team that’s still finding their identity, with a group of core players who know exactly what it’s like to make it all the way.
Most of those concerns seemed to dissipate on Saturday in Boston.
“We’re too good of a hockey team to just let it just keep floating like this,” said forward Pat Maroon. “We’ve had enough, and it’s when you’ve had enough you’ve got to start to rely on yourself and look yourself in the mirror. And I think everyone’s done that, and we’ve got to keep doing it.”
“We’ve got to keep chipping away. It’s just three games. We’ve got to keep doing it for a while now.”
In the first period, the Lightning dominated possession. Shot attempts were 26-13 in their favor. They opened up the scoring when Alex Killorn deflected in Mikhail Sergachev's shot during a Lightning power play. Doing so forced the Capitals to start playing from behind.
The Lightning didn’t execute as efficiently in the second period, but Vasilevskiy made 9 of 10 stops. Steven Stamkos gave them a buffer in the first period that prevented a tie from ever happening.
The third period was all about Anthony Cirelli and Pat Maroon. Maroon was able to jump on two rebounds by Cirelli and crash the net for two goals. Cernak finalized the win when he intercepted a pass meant for Ovechkin and scored an empty-netter.
“I think its urgency, just being physical, and that’s not just hits,” Maroon said. “It’s winning puck battles in the defensive zone. I think we weren’t closing fast enough. We weren’t heavy enough. And that’s our team. We’re finding our identity, and I think it’s being strong, physical, strong on pucks.
As the Lightning continue to gel on defense, it lightens up the pressure on goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has turned away 93 of 96 shots over the past three games.
“We have all the high-end skill ready to take over eventually, but you’ve got to defend first, play hard in your own zone, and then the offense will take over. I think we’ve done a really good job of that.”
A victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday would secure the Tampa Bay Lightning for sixth consecutive postseason berth.