PITTSBURGH – The defending Eastern Conference champions arrived here without two of their best players and left with their No. 1 goalie in the training room.
There’s a fairly good chance they’ll wake up Saturday to a call from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety after a borderline hit from one of their veteran forwards.
And yet, it was difficult to view Friday night’s performance by the Tampa Bay Lightning as anything but positive. They certainly wasted no time showing the Pittsburgh Penguins that the path to the Stanley Cup won’t be an easy one.
Through injury, through penalty trouble, through just about any crazy thing a playoff game throws at them, the Lightning always seem to find a way.
“I think a lot of that comes from last year, the one we had, and the confidence in this group coming into this year,” winger Ryan Callahan said after a series-opening 3-1 victory. “The biggest thing this post-season was all the injuries. We’ve had that mentality: It’s the next guy up, and the next guy steps in and does the job.
“It’s been the whole group all year.”
After having Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman on the sidelines since the end of the regular season, and after facing perceived weaker playoffs opponents in Detroit and the New York Islanders, Tampa has gotten surprisingly little love this spring.
That could change in a hurry.
The strongest statement they’ve made this post-season came after seeing Ben Bishop stretchered off the ice at a muted Consol Energy Center. Arguably the team’s MVP this season – and a Vezina Trophy finalist for the second time – Bishop fell awkwardly on his left leg while moving across the crease in the first period and immediately grabbed for his knee.
That brought in 21-year-old Andrei Vasilevskiy, who also got a victory in relief of Bishop during last year’s Stanley Cup final, and his teammates responded with a stifling performance.
Not only did they limit the ever-dangerous Penguins to two shots over the next 12-plus minutes, they scored twice during that span to give Vasilevskiy an opportunity to get comfortable.
“The guys played really well,” he said. “When guys play in front of you like that – [with] blocked shots and box outs and just fighting for a goalie – I get some confidence. Just thanks for our guys.”
Injuries are nothing new for this Lightning group.
The first thing that coach Jon Cooper thought of when he saw the stretcher come out for Bishop was the afternoon game in November 2013 when Stamkos crashed into the goal post while back-checking in Boston and broke his leg.
There was optimism post-game that the injury may not be too serious – X-rays came back negative and Cooper indicated “there’s nothing structurally wrong right now” – but this won’t likely be a group that gets too rattled if Vasilevskiy has to start Game 2 here on Monday night.
“Well, we’ve faced a lot of adversity,” said defenceman Victor Hedman. “I think we’re obviously a little bit too used to it.”
It is in the experience category where the Lightning seem to hold the biggest edge in this tightly matched series. They got within two wins of the Stanley Cup last spring, and are facing a Pittsburgh team using plenty of untested players beyond the usual suspects.
The night had begun with Cooper saying that you never know what to expect from the Game 1 of a series, and he was quickly proven right. For two skilled teams, there was plenty of carnage.
Callahan drew a boarding major just 2:50 into the game when he drove Kris Letang into the end boards from behind. The Penguins failed to convert on that five-minute power play, but Callahan could end up facing a suspension after player safety finishes examining the play.
Prior to the intermission, Tampa lost Bishop and then centre Tyler Johnson, who took a hit from Chris Kunitz to his right knee but returned in the second period.
It didn’t end there.
Penguins defenceman Brian Dumolin was knocked out of the game late in the third period after taking a hit from Ondrej Palat – one coach Mike Sullivan felt was from behind.
There was certainly no tip-toeing into this Eastern Conference final from anyone involved.
While Pittsburgh didn’t generate as many quality scoring chances as it has been accustomed to, it still ended up with a 70-41 edge in shot attempts. There will need to be more battle for better looks moving forward.
“They fight hard,” said Sullivan. “They block shots. They’ve got people in the lanes. They have good support mechanisms built in place when somebody gets beat.”
In short, the Lightning are a tough opponent.
Maybe not tougher than Pittsburgh was expecting but certainly tougher than they seem to be getting credit for. Even after a long layoff between rounds, Tampa was ready.
“You can’t really just mail in a game against them,” said Johnson. “We had to come out hot and I thought we did that. We got the win here so now we’re just one step closer.”
