TAMPA, Fla. — Return of the Mack was playing in the Lightning dressing room after morning skate — a fitting tune, really — ahead of what captain Steven Stamkos calls “a very pivotal game.”
It sure is. Tampa Bay has clawed its way back into this Eastern Conference Final, winning the last two after dropping the first two, and now we’re down to a best-of-three between the Capitals and the Lightning, with Game 5 puck drop set for 7:15 p.m. ET Saturday, back in Tampa.
A few notes from the Sportsnet notebook ahead of tonight’s game.
Out West
A smile crosses Tyler Johnson’s face as he thinks about what’s happening with the Vegas Golden Knights.
“I don’t know if I would have expected them to be one win away from the Stanley Cup Final,” the Lightning forward says. “It’s pretty cool to see.”
Sure, they’re an expansion team, but Stamkos says it’s no shock to see Vegas in the third round of the playoffs, and with a 3-1 lead on Winnipeg.
“I said it the first time we played them earlier in the year, everyone thought, ‘When is the train gonna come off the tracks?’” Stamkos says. “But they’re a fantastic team and we’re seeing it … everyone keeps saying how surprised they are but when you play against them and you see them, no, I’m not surprised.”
The Capitals watched the game together over dinner Friday night, though fourth-liner Jay Beagle only watched the first. Beagle doesn’t watch a whole lot of hockey on TV and he hasn’t since he started taking the game seriously, because he finds he’s paying too much attention to team’s systems, and it’s “not all that enjoyable.”
“But I watched the first with the guys, because I was eating,” he explains. “I checked the score this morning — I have friends on both of those teams.”
Nate Schmidt is a good buddy, after a couple years as teammates in Washington. “I’ve been watching him all year, seeing how he’s doing with Vegas,” Beagle says. “I’m just interested in that whole story.”
He’s not alone there. But, like Stamkos, Beagle isn’t surprised that Vegas could be in the final in Year 1.
“It’s good for them. It’s pretty cool, and it’s good for the league, too,” he says. “It’s crazy.”
True.
Back to this series
Washington went 0-for-4 on the power play in Game 4, an eventual 4-2 win. Expect Game 5 to be more disciplined on both sides.
“That first period, we had three penalty kills, back-to-back-to-back,” Johnson says. “That’s tough to come out of. Guys get gassed and tired, and then they took their penalties as well. I think both teams are probably going to have a little bit more emphasis on trying to play disciplined, stay out of the box, play that 5-on-5 hockey.”
Lightning coach Jon Cooper has quite liked his team’s penalty kill, though, as he should, considering Washington went 0-for-4 on the power play last game.
“I think we’ve taken away a lot of options that they want,” Cooper says. “In the end, I think your goalie’s the most important guy on the PK — that’s who you need.”
Yes, Andrei Vasilevskiy was exceptional for the Lightning in Game 4, making 36 saves, while standing on his head.
As Stamkos puts it, “to have him back there is obviously a great luxury for our team.”
And how ‘bout that Tampa PP
It’s on fire. Overall in the post-season, the Lightning have been scoring on a little over 30 per cent of their power plays, and last game, they struck twice with the man advantage.
“We’ve had a ton of confidence all year,” Stamkos says. “Come playoff time it can be a difference-maker in games. And then obviously given the stretch like we’re on now, it’s not ‘hopefully we’re gonna score,’ it’s ‘when we’re gonna score.’ That’s the feeling we have going out there.
“But we’ll have to make some adjustments, too. I’m sure they’re over there scheming up ways to try to defend us. We need to be constantly evolving as a unit. I think with Pointer [Brayden Point] in the hole now we’ve created a new dynamic and it’s working out.”
It is. Stamkos has scored four goals in this series, and they’ve all come on the power play.
Important tidbits
The Lightning’s playoffs slogan is “Takin’ Care of Business.”
Also, good tunes like Return of the Mack play in their dressing room thanks to defenceman Andrej Sustr, who’s been the DJ for a couple of seasons.
Off-day activities in Florida
It’s hovering around 30 degrees in Tampa Bay, and though Beagle isn’t sure what the team will be doing to pass time — other than napping and eating — he says one thing’s for sure: “We’ll try to stay out of the sun.”
Smart.
Road advantage
Neither team has won at home in this series, and obviously that’s something the Lightning will have to change should they advance to the Final (Games 5 and 7 are at home, and they need two more wins.)
“You’re going to have to move past that eventually,” Stamkos says. “You work so hard throughout the season to have playoff series to come down to two-of-three, and two of them are at home. You have to take advantage of finding a way to win and hopefully we can break that mould tonight.”
[relatedlinks]
