Over the course of an 82-game regular season, teams will win some games they probably shouldn’t and lose others in which they deserve a better fate. This defeat falls into the latter category.
Against one of the top teams in the league, the Lightning delivered one of their best overall performances of the season on Saturday. They defended hard and limited opposition scoring chances. Their compete level was high. They won loose pucks. They checked. They owned a possession advantage and created numerous Grade-A looks.
But they didn’t get rewarded. Darcy Kuemper erased a number of the Lightning’s scoring chances and finished with 34 saves. The Kings also made several key defensive plays in front of Kuemper to prevent the Lightning from scoring. In particular, the pair of Mikey Anderson and Vladislav Gavrikov each had a block on a Nikita Kucherov shot while Kuemper was not in position to make a save. As well, the Lightning just missed finishing plays that might have led to goals, such as when Brayden Point fired a shot over a mostly open net on a two-on-one rush.
The Lightning did get a bounce on their lone goal, which came just 70 seconds into the game. Victor Hedman’s point shot deflected off Anderson’s stick and into the net. But Anderson got the goal back for LA later in the period when he fired a left-point shot through a heavy screen just inside the far post.
The Anderson shot was a well-placed one, but it’s difficult to argue that it was a prime scoring chance. In fact, the Lightning hardly allowed any Grade-A scoring chances, at least until Adrian Kempe’s winning goal late in the third. The goal was scored off the rush, and the play began with a Lightning turnover in the offensive zone. Point attempted an errant drop pass to Nick Perbix. In an unsuccessful attempt to corral the puck, Perbix dove to the ice. Alex Turcotte skated around him and countered into the Lightning’s defensive zone. At the same time, the Kings changed players. Kempe charged off the bench and skated into the slot, where Turcotte delivered a pass. Kempe finished a one-timer at 14:12 of the third. It broke the tie and proved to be the game-winner.
Hockey is a game of mistakes. The Kings made mistakes that led to Lightning rush chances. But they didn’t turn out to be costly mistakes. Instead, the Lightning were the team to make the costly mistake, and as a result, they came away from this game with zero points. They’ll look for a better result when they face Anaheim on Sunday.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
- Darcy Kuemper — Kings. 34 saves.
- Mikey Anderson — Kings. Goal.
- Victor Hedman — Lightning. Goal.
