TAMPA, Fla. – After a rather uneven start on the road, the Lightning lift the curtain on the home portion of the 2022-23 season when they host John Tortorella’s Flyers on Tuesday night.
A three-game road trip that concluded with a 6-2 defeat in Pittsburgh on Saturday evening left the Bolts with a 1-2-0 mark heading into home opener. They could have easily lost all three if not for – surprise — Andrei Vasilevskiy’s fine play in goal in a 5-2 win over Columbus on Friday night.
In fact, Brian Elliott earned much praise from coach Jon Cooper following the loss to the Penguins. The goalie was under siege all evening in facing 44 shots, with a 45th shot finding an open net. Alas, the level of responsibility in front of him was such that, sooner or later, a team as skilled as the Sidney Crosby-led Penguins was going to create some separation.
“The big thing is, if we are not going to manage the puck and if we are going to turn it over, especially against teams like (the Penguins), it’ll be a long night for you,” said Cooper, following the game. “But we have gone through ebbs and flows (through the) years. This is a tough way to start this year, no doubt.”
The Lightning allowed 112 shots on goal in the first three contests, or 37.3 per game. Underscoring what Cooper said with respect to turnovers, many of the opportunities Vasilevskiy and Elliott faced were of the high-percentage variety.
It does not help that the Lightning are 32nd and last in the NHL in winning 34.4 percent of their faceoffs. Also, they were shorthanded four times in each of the first three games.
True, it is a very small sample size. Yet, the play so far resembles what we saw at times last season when Vasy had to save the day, and his team, far too many times. Of course, the Lightning tightened the screws when it had to on the way to a third consecutive Cup final appearance. That said, some bad habits have surfaced only three games into the season.
“I think it’s a bit of a wakeup call for us,” said Brayden Point, in referencing the general feeling that came out of the season-opening road trip.
It is not like the Lightning were inept in losses to the Rangers and Penguins as there was some exceptional play in all three zones. The problem is that the Lightning would noticeably lose their collective edge, and for stretches of time.
“We had good starts in games and we sustained that against Columbus, but against New York and Pittsburgh, for whatever reason, we couldn’t sustain it,” said Victor Hedman.
As for Tuesday night’s opponent, the Flyers are off to a 2-0 start under the 64-year-old Tortorella. They opened with home-ice wins over New Jersey and Vancouver. The former Lightning coach, who guided the team to its first Cup in 2004, was brought on board in June following Philly’s dismal 61-point showing last season. The Flyers missed the playoffs each of the last two years and have won only one playoff round in the last 10 years.
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