Ultimate Underdog Tyler Johnson Lifting Lightning in Round 1 vs. Red Wings

He was the kid on the playground at recess who wasn't picked for the game. When the 2011 NHL draft at the Xcel Energy Center concluded, Tyler Johnson was ignored by all of the choosers—211 times. 

He was a good player in junior hockey for the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League—OK, the scouts said. But at 5'8", 175 pounds soaking wet, Johnson was considered too small to play in the NHL. 

So Johnson, a native of Spokane, Washington, signed on with the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League in 2011. The next season he showed well enough with the Lightning's Syracuse Crunch, who'd become the team's AHL affiliate, to get a 14-game call-up stint with Tampa Bay. Johnson made the big club out of training camp the following campaign, 2013-14. 

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

His 24 goals and 26 assists in 82 games were good enough for Johnson to be named a finalist for the Calder Trophy, which went to Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon. 

Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Johnson scored two goals, including the overtime winner on Petr Mrazek, to give the Lightning a 3-2 win in Game 4 of their first-round Eastern Conference series. The Bolts were five minutes and 26 seconds away from going down 3-1 to the Wings, down 2-0 in the game, when Johnson unfurled the map leading back from oblivion.

He finally solved Mrazek at 14:34 of the third, assisted on Ondrej Palat's tying goal at 15:51 and finished off the odd-man rush with Victor Hedman at 2:25 of OT to send Detroiters home quietly.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Lightning coach Jon Cooper told assembled press after the game that Johnson's first goal was the turning point.

"As soon as we got that first one, we grew a couple inches on the bench," said Cooper, whose career playoff record improved to 2-6.

Was Lightning radio voice Dave Mishkin excited about Johnson's winning goal? Listen for yourself here. I guarantee you'll want to run a lap around the neighborhood after listening.

LM Otero/Associated Press

It was Johnson's second two-goal game of the series. Without him, Detroit probably would be resting up for the second round right now.

Anyone wish they could do that 2011 draft over? No disrespect intended here, but the fact that Tyler Johnson wasn't deemed draft-worthy really does raise questions about just what NHL amateur scouts do with themselves. Johnson has 53 goals the last two years with the Lightning and was the best player on the ice in a huge playoff game for his team Thursday. The 11th pick in the '11 draft, Duncan Siemens of the Colorado Avalanche, has one NHL game to his credit.

Johnson is just pure will, Rudy-On-Skates. He has skill, but so does everyone in the NHL. He just works harder than most. He is the second coming in Tampa Bay of Martin St. Louis, the player everyone thought wasn't big enough to be a keeper. If those two face each other in the Eastern final—a distinct possibility—it will be a heavyweight battle of the underdogs.

Coaches in Tampa Bay love Johnson. He never takes a shift off because he knows everyone will start questioning his lack of size if he does. It will always be in the back of the old-school scout's mind. That's why it was such a service by Michael Lewis to expose old-world thinking in sports with Moneyball, even if it came about in the examination of another sport, baseball.

Johnson no longer has to prove he belongs in the NHL now. The question is: Can he and the Lightning take that momentum gained at the Joe on Thursday and convert it to a series lead Saturday in Tampa? This series is still a complete toss-up.

Fact is, Tampa Bay didn't look too great for 55 minutes but pulled out a win. Detroit blew this thing. But I don't sense a team that will let this destroy it. 

On the other hand, Tampa Bay's home crowd can get pretty into it when it cares, and Saturday figures to be a real party. Johnson is probably the Lightning's biggest fan favorite, discounting superstar Steven Stamkos. 

Johnson is the little man who could for Tampa Bay. Those who bet against his proving he can still do it are going against the odds.