Lightning Strikes Back

The New York Rangers took a 1-0 series lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 2-1 victory in game one. Tampa Bay struggled to score, managing just one goal in the final period. In game one the Lightning look out of sorts. Honestly, they did not play as if they were in the conference finals. Coach John Cooper stated “in game one, we participated in a hockey game, and in game two we came to win a hockey game”. Boy was he right. Coming off the game one loss, it did not take long for the Lightning to strike back.

Game two was a completely different story. After struggling to get good shots on goal in game one, the Lightning thrived on the offensive end in game two, led by Tyler Johnson. Johnson had been scoreless in his last four games, but poured in three goals to complete the hat trick. The three goals gave Johnson eleven total in the playoffs. It also was the first hat trick ever in Tampa Bay playoff history. Johnson led the way, but it was the whole team who played with a different mindset.

As a team the Lightning scored six goals. With the game hanging in the balance in the final period, with a 3-2 lead, the Lightning poured in three more goals to end any question of who would win this game. Now the Lightning head back home for game three tied at one game apiece. The question now, is which team will show up in game three? Can the Lightning use this game as momentum moving forward? What we know for sure is that they had better come with an attack mindset the rest of the series, and when they do so they are very dangerous. Lightning can strike quick.