![]() However, when you only have three late picks at a draft, this feels like another perfect time to take a swing on a goaltender. Unfortunately, these attempts at goaltending depth have rarely born fruit for the franchise, so the Lightning have to rely on veterans at the end of their careers who will sign for cheap to backstop their AHL and NHL franchises. For their part, the Lightning have been proactive when it comes to goalies, as in most drafts they select a new goalie to add to their depth charts in the hopes that they can one day develop into a backup capable of relieving Andrei Vasilevksiy 30 or so times each season. When your team features one of the best goaltenders in the world, it’s easy to overlook the importance of goaltending depth in your organization. Lightning Can Fill Goaltending Needs Through the Draft So, with these ideas in mind, let’s discuss some strategies that the Lightning may take for their 2023 Draft selections. BriseBois and his scouts understand that their later picks are a perfect time to take high-upside players that need a lot more time to develop, whether it be through college, overseas, or an overager that can start immediately in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Syracuse Crunch. While it is unlikely that they will draft a nightly starter with their late-round picks, the team has a surprisingly high hit rate with later selections, including current starters like Nick Perbix who was a sixth-round pick. Now, this doesn’t mean that the Lightning will write off the 2023 Draft as a complete loss. Isaac Howard will likely be the last first-round selection for the Tampa Bay Lightning until at least the 2026 NHL Draft after years of trading their top picks to compete for the Stanley Cup. Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports You get one of those bounces next game, you never know what can happen.” 2021 NHL playoff schedule: Stanley Cup Final - (TB leads 2-0) It doesn’t matter First Round, Second Round, Third Round, Final, whatever it is, you continue to play your game, continue to do the things that got you here, you’re going to be successful. “What happened in the First Round, we were down 3-1 and we stayed focus, stayed with our game plan, never changed, never did anything and continued to push. “The message is don’t stop doing what we’ve been doing all playoffs,” said Canadiens forward Corey Perry. It’s just a matter of trusting the game plan, executing, and creating their own luck. They’ve face adversity like this before this postseason. That’s what Montreal is facing as they now focus on a very important Game 3 at home. It’s a matter of execution and finding ways to force the Lightning to be the ones making the mistakes and owning the real estate in front of the Tampa Bay crease.Īccording to the NHL, teams holding a 2-0 series lead in the Cup Final are 46-5 all-time. Montreal knows what they need to do to score against Vasilevskiy, they’ve watched enough video and read the scouting reports. Instead, they’re trailing after a deflating goal and then need to beat Vasilevskiy at least twice to win. If Coleman doesn’t score that highlight-reel goal, it’s a tie game heading into the third period and the Canadiens come out with a different mindset. Through three rounds they had been the opportunistic team. Montreal is finding that out the hard way. The thing about the Stanley Cup Playoffs is it’s all about the fine margins. That’s not good enough against the defending champions. Through two game, the Canadiens lead the Lightning 97-74 in shot attempts, but only have one goal to show for it at 5-on-5. That means we have the puck more as well.” “I think that’ll give us some confidence that way. “We’re going to continue to get better and we’re going to find our offense and we’re going to start scoring a few goals,” Richardson said. Once again, they didn’t do enough to create traffic in front of Vasilevskiy with Nick Suzuki’s goal only coming after a deflection. Through two games Montreal has only two goals and while they dominated the shot category in Game 2 (43-23), 10 of those were of the high-danger variety in all-situations, per Natural Stat Trick “These guys are very opportunistic and very lethal offensively if you do make mistakes in certain areas,” Richardson said afterward. The back-breaker would come with 4:18 to play in the third period when a miscommunication between Joel Edmundson and Jeff Petry behind the Canadiens’ net allowed Ondrej Palat a golden opportunity to make it 3-1. That was the first mistake that led to a goal.
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