Tampa Bay Lightning comes across questions for the first time in weeks (Part 1)
Tampa Bay Lightning has left its opponents completely stunned with the performances they have bagged in the past few weeks, but now it seems Lightning is dipping in form which has raised questions about the team.
Lightning’s performance was getting better with the passage of time until the second game of the Eastern Conference Finals series against Boston Bruins.
Boston was not only able to win the second game but it was absolutely superb, thrashing Lightning’s defence.
Bruins was unable to get past the Lightning defence wall in the first game but the show Bruins exhibited in the second game left Lightning stunned and proved that it wasn’t the unbeatable team it claimed to be.
Lightning needed to make things better when they lost three of the first four games in the earlier series against Pittsburgh Penguins. However, after Game 4 it was absolutely superb as it won the next three games and the semifinal series against Washington
Capitals with a clean sweep.
Lightning needs to regroup and reflect on its mistakes to improve on them. They will be doing this after maintaining a 100% success record for quite some time during the play-offs.
“Playoffs are like roller coaster rides”, Tampa Bay’s captain, Vincent Lecavalier, said. “But it's how you -- I think it's how you come back the next game or it's how you bounce back that shows what type of team you are and the character that you have in
a team. And I really think we've been doing well”.
Lightning came up with some brilliant victories, not only winning two series, but also coming on the verge of breaking some old records.
It won eight consecutive games in the play-offs, just three shy of the record number of consecutive wins in the play-offs.
Lightning got past Bruins easily in Game 1, defeating it by 5-2, but the first two periods of the second game proved to be the deciding minutes in which Bruins was on top.
“I mean, obviously with eight wins in a row, it probably is easier to say that. But, I mean, the times that we did -- like against Pittsburgh, we lost a few big games but we kept at it. We showed a lot of character. But we realize that it's a series. It's
not one game”, said Lightning’s skipper.
Lightning just didn’t seem to be the usual Lightning team that we have seen on ice for the past eight games as they appeared low on morale and confidence.
Lightning’s offence and defence, both, were struggling and they had to pay the price of losing the game by 6-5 in the end.
(Continued in Part 2) . . . . .
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