Mishkin's Musings: Three keys to a 5-1 homestand

The Lightning's season-long six-game homestand ended successfully on Thursday with a 4-1 victory over Columbus. They also posted victories over Toronto, Nashville, Florida, and Seattle. Their only defeat came versus Detroit, a game in which they peppered goaltender Ville Husso with 30 third-period shots. So the Lightning can feel good about what they accomplished during the past two weeks. Here are three reasons why they were able to bank 10 out of 12 possible points.

1. Third Period Domination. In three of their five victories, the Lightning entered the third period tied with the opposition. In a fourth, they trailed after 40 minutes and still prevailed. In all, the Lightning outscored their opponents, 14-5, in the six third periods. Two of those five goals against were empty-netters (both in the Detroit game).
Early in the homestand, Jon Cooper mixed up his forward lines, but by the time the Lightning faced Nashville in the third contest, he had reunited the unit of Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, and Brandon Hagel. In all three of the games that were tied after two periods - Nashville, Florida, and Columbus - Point scored the go-ahead goal in the third period. Versus Nashville, it occurred on a shift that began with a defensive zone face-off. Anthony Cirelli took the draw and stayed out on the ice with Point and Kucherov - Cirelli earned an assist on the goal, along with Kucherov. But on Point's tie-breaking tallies against the Panthers and Blue Jackets, it was Kucherov and Hagel picking up the helpers.
So while it's true that the Lightning received balanced scoring throughout the homestand (see Reason #2), it was the Point-Kucherov-Hagel line that accounted for some of the most important goals. Point's three third-period tallies not only gave the Lightning the lead and ended up being game-winners in all three, they allowed the Lightning to gain momentum. In those contests against the Preds, Panthers, and Blue Jackets, the Lightning added two more goals and won by a comfortable three-goal margin.
2. Balanced Scoring. Point registered goals in five of the six games, posting six goals overall (with those aforementioned three game-winners). Kucherov netted the tying goal in the third period against Toronto and contributed nine assists in the other five games. Hagel produced 3-3-6 numbers over the final four games of the homestand. Steven Stamkos didn't record a point in the Columbus game, ending his 14-game streak. But he had three goals and three assists in the first five. Nick Paul scored an important third-period goal against Nashville, extending the Lightning lead to 4-2. Alex Killorn tallied the overtime winner against Toronto.
The six forwards comprised two of the Lightning's four lines for much of the homestand. But the scoring extended beyond those six. Three other forwards recorded their first goals of the season: Vlad Namestnikov against Toronto, Pat Maroon versus Florida, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in the Columbus game. Corey Perry and Ross Colton both contributed a pair of goals as well.
Thanks to a balanced attack, the Lightning filled the net consistently. They popped in at least four goals in all five of their victories. The return of Cirelli, who made his season debut at the beginning of the homestand, was impactful. Playing primarily on a line with Maroon and Colton, Cirelli helped his line drive play and spend a lot of time in the offensive zone. He also recorded six assists.
3. Team Defense/Goaltending. Not all six games followed the exact same script, but there were some common themes. In many of the contests, the Lightning started well and grabbed a first-period lead. The opposition pushed back in the second. Then the Lightning took control in the third.
There were some exceptions - the Lightning yielded numerous scoring chances in the first period against Detroit as well as in the opening minutes versus Florida. But for the most part, the Lightning defended well for a majority of the six games and kept the opposing scoring-chance number low. When they suffered breakdowns, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brian Elliott delivered key saves. That was certainly true for Vasilevskiy in those contests against the Red Wings and Panthers - neither team scored a goal in the first period. In fact, the Lightning allowed just two first-period goals during the entire homestand.
The goalies stood tall during those second-period speed bumps, too. But notably, the Lightning did fairly well to limit second-period chances, even as they struggled at times with their puck play.
Over the six games, the Lightning allowed just 13 total goals, two of which were those empty-netters.
The homestand ended a stretch in which the Lightning played 15 of 20 games at Amalie Arena. They went 14-5-1. Now the pendulum swings in the other direction. Beginning with Saturday's game in Montreal, the Lightning will have 12 of their next 17 on the road.