NEW YORK — Every once in a while a hockey player comes along that makes you challenge what you think you know.
Enter Tyler Johnson.
There is so much more to this story than the fact he’s shorter than just about everyone else on the ice and passed through three NHL drafts without hearing his name called.
What we witnessed at Madison Square Garden on Monday night was a special performance. Henceforth, Johnson should universally be considered a special player — pedigree and genetics be damned.
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: | Broadcast Schedule
Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE | Stanley Cup Playoffs Fantasy Hockey
New Sportsnet app: iTunes | Google Play
To score a hat trick against Henrik Lundqvist in the Eastern Conference final is one thing. To do it in every way possible on a night when the Tampa Bay Lightning desperately needed a victory was nothing short of spectacular.
“The bigger the game the better he plays,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after the 6-2 win. “That’s Tyler Johnson. It’s unreal to watch. He put the team on his back, and we all followed.”
By the end of a wild evening it was easy to overlook how much trouble Tampa could have found in this game. The team took four minor penalties in the opening 11 minutes, including putting itself down two men for 67 seconds.
In that situation, Cooper turned to Johnson and it proved to be a wise move.
The crafty centre pounced on the puck after Marty St. Louis took a pass in his skates and went in alone on a long breakaway.
The goal officially went down as one scored at 4-on-5, but that was a technicality given that Brenden Morrow was exiting the box as it went in.
To come out of that tenuous start ahead, rather than behind, changed the entire dynamic of the game.
“Scoring that shorty on a 5-on-3, pretty much, was amazing,” said captain Steven Stamkos.
In the Lightning dressing room, they’ve simply come to expect this from the 24-year-old who is coming off a 72-point season. Cooper refers to him as a low-maintenance player who always puts the team first.
“You never have to worry about Johnny,” said the coach. “He always shows up.”
Even still, to be leading the league in goals (11) and points (16) at this stage of the playoffs? No one outside of Tampa saw that coming.
Consider that Johnson currently has the same number of goals as former Conn Smythe winners Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews combined. He’s also put up two more than the Ducks duo of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf have managed so far.
What the playoffs do is they separate the great from the good. The cream always rises to the surface.
Even though Johnson has received a fair bit of notoriety during his two NHL seasons — primarily because he’s generously listed at five-foot-eight and signed with the Lightning as an undrafted free agent — it’s clear that he’s much more than a passing curiosity.
After Chris Kreider evened the score at 1-1 on Monday night, it was Johnson who found an opening and roofed a shot over Henrik Lundqvist on a power play. Then in the second period he fought hard to get to the goal and banged in a rebound to become the first Lightning player in history to register a playoff hat trick.
“He’s the complete package,” said teammate Victor Hedman. “He’s not just a playmaker and a goal-scorer, he’s not afraid to get physical, he’s not afraid to get in front of the net. You see that third goal, he’s in front of the net battling for it and it’s not a coincidence he got a stick on it.
“It’s just a lot of fun to watch. You sit on the bench and you see that, you’re really happy having him on your team.”
Johnson obviously doesn’t operate completely on his own. His line with Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat is arguably the best in the NHL.
However, as the centreman he is the engine that drives the trio and his willingness to engage in physical battles is particularly useful in the heat of the playoffs.
“I think that’s the best line I’ve seen in a long time with all three guys being able to contribute and just have that chemistry,” said Stamkos. “Usually you see a lot of pairs in the NHL. To have three guys on a line, it’s pretty special.”
And so this series heads to Tampa with the Lightning feeling pretty good about their chances. They clearly benefitted from a scorching-hot power play in Game 2, but Johnson’s performance restored a little swagger.
When you examine his history, it’s slightly less of a surprise that he’s coming through under pressure. His trophy case already includes a Memorial Cup, Calder Cup and World Junior Championship gold, and could grow a little more in the next month here.
Despite the decorated past, he wasn’t one of the 632 players drafted in 2008, 2009 and 2010 — yet amazingly he’s done something 53 per cent of those men haven’t by actually playing in the NHL.
“I’m living my dream,” said Johnson.
“It’s incredible to watch,” added Cooper. “He never lets you down.”
It’s time the wider hockey world took notice.
