Game 25: Boston at Tampa Bay

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Boston Bruins 3-1.

I thought that this was a really good game.The goal by Tampa Bay - the set up - was beautiful by Lecavalier to St. Louis. And the finishing shot by St. Louis was just a fantastic. The score was just not indicative of how they played. Boston got the lucky breaks and won the game.

They weren't quite as steady as they were the game before. There were times when that frantic mentality came back, but for the most part they held their own. They need to learn not to panic but to assert control of the situation when defensive lapses and breakaways by the other team happen.

There's also a tendency to give up partway thru a play when they feel that it won't get them anywhere. I think that's more from not winning than anything else, tho. Following thru and finishing what they're supposed to do will help with getting wins. There's a big difference mentally between giving up on getting the puck because you don't think you can get it versus making the other team give you a reason why you should give up on getting the puck.

The first one is self-imposed while the second one externally imposed. It's the difference between stopping yourself or forcing someone else to stop you. You don't give up unless you absolutely have to, and the Lightning have been giving up just a little bit. Less so than before, tho.

Faceoffs were good, shots were good, penalties were good, Smith was outstanding - overall, it was a good game. They just didn't win. And that's just sometimes the way it goes. But if they keep it up, then they will win - no doubt about that.

After reading the papers this morning, there's some question as to why they're not winning - they just dropped their 5th game in a row. Working hard isn't the only thing that gets a team wins. If you don't work hard, then you'll probably lose, but luck and talent do figure into things even if you do work hard. Sometimes, one team is just better than the other no matter how hard a team works, and there's not a lot anyone can do about that. It's just a fact of life.

That being said, I think that the Lightning can still scratch their way back into the playoff picture. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but the last couple of games they've played have really been so much better than before. I think that corner has been turned.

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