Overall, this was a closely-played contest. The Avalanche were helped by their ability to take the lead, so they forced the Lightning to play from behind for much of the night. The Lightning also got into penalty trouble - they were shorthanded a season-high six times. And while the penalty kill did an excellent job in killing off the first five of those penalties, those frequency of the kills made it difficult for the Lightning to build momentum offensively. The first two came in succession early in the game. Then in the second period, they had three more - all in a row.
Colorado's top line of Nathan MacKinnon (goal and two assists), Gabriel Landeskog (goal and assist), and Mikko Rantanen (goal) had a big night offensively. But as a whole, the Lightning actually did a pretty good job containing that top unit. The players on that line are so good that they don't need many looks to convert. On the first goal, MacKinnon picked up a puck off the boards (following a hard rim dump-in from Bowen Byram) and quickly fed Landeskog in front for the opening tally of the game. In the second period, the Lightning turned the puck over at the offensive blue line, leading to a two-on-one rush for MacKinnon and Rantanen - Rantanen finished a one-timer off MacKinnon's pass. On the third goal, Landeskog won a power play face-off and seconds later, MacKinnon ripped a slapshot from the left circle into the net.
But even with the six kills, the Lightning held Colorado to just 22 shots on net through regulation. So it's not as though the Avs applied consistent pressure throughout the game. At the other end, the Lightning posted 31 shots through three periods and generated several excellent scoring chances themselves. They got goals from Mathieu Joseph (off the rush), Steven Stamkos (redirection from the front of the net), and Brayden Point (sixth attacker goal following a Stamkos face-off win and a pass from Victor Hedman). Despite being down three separate times, they never stopped pushing and deserve credit for repeatedly tying the game. Also, they didn't let the fact that Colorado received three additional power play chances in the contest deter them. The Lightning had a legitimate beef on the final penalty call, which led to MacKinnon's go-ahead third period goal. Andrei Vasilevskiy had his stick along the ice to block a potential centering pass from behind the net and was called for tripping when Logan O'Connor skated over the stick and fell. That costly call came after a late second period sequence in which Rantanen was not given a penalty for a dangerous knee-on-knee check to Joseph (Rantanan and Alex Killorn were given matching roughing minors after the hit). And moments after the MacKinnon PPG, Avs goalie Darcy Kuemper tripped Point and no penalty was called.
Sometimes the calls don't go your way. Sometimes bounces don't either. Rantanen's shootout attempt hit the post, but the puck caromed off Vasilevskiy and in. But the best way to deal with tough breaks is to keep working. And the Lightning did that tonight. They'll bank their point and look ahead to Buffalo on Monday.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
1. Nathan MacKinnon - Avalanche. Goal and two assists.
2. Steven Stamkos - Lightning. Goal and assist.
3. Mathieu Joseph - Lightning. Goal.
