On March 12th, the NHL entered it’s “pause” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We waited 5 long months for hockey to come back. On Tuesday afternoon in Toronto, Tampa Bay Lightning playoff hockey made its long awaited arrival. What transpired over the next six hours (yes, six) had us all remembering quickly that there’s just something special about the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
At last, the chance to right last season’s horribly wrong playoff appearance came for the Tampa Bay Lightning. And, in the most fitting way possible, the opportunity came against the very team that eliminated them in that 4 game sweep a year ago, the Columbus Blue Jackets. After securing the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference, Tampa Bay started their quest for revenge on Tuesday afternoon in game 1 of the 2020 first round.
Jackets cash in on early power play chance, Bolts respond
Flashback to one of the only high points of that 2019 playoff series. Alex Killorn gets the Lightning on the board with a shorthanded goal just over 4 minutes into game 1. Fast forward to today, it was Killorn’s name again heard early on. This time, the Bolts’ forward took a tripping penalty 2:11 into the game. Columbus needed just 28 seconds to cash in on their first power play opportunity. Pierre-Luc Dubois redireced a Alexandre Texier shot into the net to give the Jackets an early 1-0 lead.
Prior to the power play and for the better part of the opening period, the Lightning played fast and physical. The shift immediately following the Blue Jackets goal consisted of a long stretch of posession in the offensive zone. The pressure and shot attempts continued at a productive pace and, at 6:27, Brayden Point deflected a Nikita Kucherov shot into the net to tie the game at 1.
Early second period penalties give way to Jackets taking lead late
The Tampa Bay energy continued into the second period before the penalty bug bit yet again. First, Yanni Gourde was called for slashing on Seth Jones 6:28 into the period. However, the Blue Jackets power play was short lived as Anthony Cirelli was held on a shorthanded breakway just 27 seconds into the opportunity. The teams skated 4 on 4 until Gourde’s penalty time expired. Then, with Tampa Bay on a short power play, Victor Hedman unsuccesfully tried to avoid a too many men on the ice call by jumping into the Columbus bench. This created another power play chance for the Blue Jackets, but they were not able to capitalize.
The Lightning continued to dominate offensive zone time and shots on goal, but conquering Columbus netminder Joonas Korpisalo proved to be a tall task for the Bolts. (More on that later. Stay tuned.) The Jackets broke a 1-1 tie with just 48 seconds left in the period. Oliver Bjorkstrand fired from the right wing corner and his snap shot trickled in past Andrei Vasilevskiy. Columbus took a 2-1 lead into the third period.
Gourde strikes quickly in the third period
In the opening seconds of the third (but not final) period, Barclay Goodrow hustled to beat out an icing call. The puck ended up on the stick of Ryan McDonagh who fired a shot on net, and Yanni Gourde converted the rebound to tie the game at 2 23 seconds into the period.
Both teams, especially the Lightning created their share of scoring chances for the remainder of the period. But the score remained deadlocked at the end of 60 minutes.
For the first 3 periods, the Lightning had the upper hand in virtually every area of the game, except the scoreboard. They outshot Columbus, created more scoring chances, and were a bit faster and more physical around the puck. Nonetheless, the game entered overtime and took on a story line no one will soon forget.
Overtime begins, but will it ever end?
Overtime began with the Lightning again starting fast and creating chances, but it seemed that Korpisalo got better as the game continued. The Lightning continued to create various looks and fire shots on net to no avail. To Vasilevskiy’s credit, he answered the call when tested, but he did not face nearly the amount of pressure that his Columbus counterpart did.
The second overtime period was more of the same, although by this point fatigue was setting in. Both teams were noticeably running out of energy. It was later reported that the team was given chicken, oatmeal, bananas, and brown rice to refuel during the intermission that followed.
The marathon continues
As expected, referees held their whistles as there were no penalties called through the first two overtimes The first penalty of overtime came 4:13 into OT3 when Nick Foligno committed a high sticking penalty. Tampa Bay failed to convert again with the man advantage, and neither team found the back of the net. By the end of the third overtime, the teams had played the equivalent of 2 full games. The Lightning had a 73-52 shot advantage after 6 periods. During OT3, Tampa Bay also broke a franchise record for longest game. The previous record was 111:12 in a 2003 playoff game vs. New Jersey.
That was not the only record of note from Tuesday’s game. During the 4th overtime, on their 74th shot on goal, the Lightning set a league record for shots in a game. The record was previously held by the Boston Bruins with 73 against the Quebec Nordiques in 1991. Consequently, Korpisalo also found himself entering the record books during the period. His 74th save on Tampa Bay’s 76th shot set a new league record for saves in a game. Kelly Hrudey of the New York Islanders previously owned the record with 73.
With the hockey world holding its collective breath, Brayden Point brings this historic game to a thrilling finish
The 5th overtime looked a bit different. Both teams seemed to have slowed down even more than the period prior. Shots were becoming more erratic, and less frequent. The teams were completely exhausted and in need of a finish sooner rather than later.
The Lightning benefited from one more power play in OT5 thanks to a delay of game call on Dean Kukan. But with their extreme fatigue, even simple passes were becoming difficult and the Bolts could not get organized with the man advantage.
Following an offensive zone faceoff, Nikita Kucherov fired 2 shots toward the net that were blocked by Columbus players. Following the second attempt, Brayden Point took the puck from the left circle and fired a top shelf laser past Korpisalo. And just like that, 10:27 into the 5th overtime, Point brought an end to this record setting contest, giving Tampa Bay a 3-2 win in game 1. Just how they drew it up, right?
After the game, Point was asked if it felt like that moment would never come.
“Yeah, both teams had a lot of good looks. Goalies played great. Guys were defending really hard. I don’t know how many guys on both sides have been in a game that long. But that was something for sure.”
Final notes and thoughts
The final shot tally was 88-63 in favor of the Lightning. Until Point’s overtime winner, Joonas Korpisalo stopped 50 shots in a row and ended the game with 85 saves. As thrilling and and nerve racking of a game as that was, it makes you start to think that it’s shame someone has to lose. But, that’s just reality, and tonight belonged to the Tampa Bay Lightning. They can finally put 2019 behind them. This win was gutsy and well earned. There will be no sweep this time.
Three Stars
Normally, we assign our 3 stars of the game at the end of each recap. However, I won’t be doing that tonight. For the fact that these players toughed out a 6+ hour, 8 period hockey game, I’m giving them all stars. Each and every player on both teams.
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