Lightning Avoid Disastrous Game 4 Collapse, Change Complexion of Series

At forward, the Pittsburgh Penguins have arguably the best combination of top-end talent and depth of any team still active in the NHL playoffs. The reverse is true on defence, where Pittsburgh’s collection of talent is probably the worst of any surviving team.

In Friday’s 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, both that strength and that weakness were on display.

The Lightning seemed to be trying to take advantage of Pittsburgh’s back end, and in the early going they had success in that department. The constant pressure on the Pens’ blue line led directly to Tampa Bay’s first goal. It also led to an unfortunate collision between Bolts winger Ryan Callahan and Pittsburgh No. 2 defenceman Trevor Daley, one which took Daley out of the game:

Daley entered the night averaging 22:59 per game and playing in all situations for the Pens. His arrival midway through the year was one of the events that helped spur Pittsburgh to a brilliant run in the second half of 2015-16. It’s possible to read too much into the absence of one player—recall that Pittsburgh won a game in the last round when Kris Letang was suspended—but if he’s out for Game 5 or beyond, it makes the Penguins a worse team.

Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan told Sam Kasan of Pens Inside Scoop that there was no update on Daley’s condition:

Tampa Bay also found an effective way to neutralize Letang. Midway through the second period, the fiery defenceman was involved in a scrum and was goaded into taking multiple penalties—giving the Lightning a four-minute power play.

With Daley injured and Letang in the box, Pittsburgh had to lean on other defencemen on its penalty kill. Brian Dumoulin, who has been the team’s No. 5 option when short-handed in these playoffs, took on a more central role. Justin Schultz, who hadn’t played a single second on the penalty kill in the postseason prior to Friday, also helped out.

Both players ultimately made mistakes on Tampa’s 3-0 power-play marker and 4-0 even-strength goal, though by no means were they the only skaters at fault for Pittsburgh. In both cases, aggressive play by Penguins forwards cheating for offence was also a factor.

After the game, Letang was clearly upset with himself, making it clear to Josh Yohe of DK Pittsburgh Sports that his loss of composure was unacceptable:

Clearly, Pittsburgh allowed the Lightning to take advantage of its weaknesses, and the result is a series tied 2-2. Instead of heading home with a stranglehold, the Penguins now have to win a best-of-three, a short enough span that luck may end up playing a large role in the outcome. They may also need to play all of those games without a key member of the defence corps.  

But while the complexion of this series changed with the Bolts’ win, Pittsburgh didn’t go out with a whimper. Indeed, the Penguins came to play in the third period and nearly undid all of Tampa Bay’s good work through 40 minutes.

It started, as it so often has in these playoffs, with Phil Kessel. He fired a wicked shot from the very fringes of the scoring-chance area, the kind of shot that most players don’t score on. Kessel isn’t most players, and Pittsburgh got on the board.

Then Pittsburgh’s second line chimed in. Somehow, Tampa Bay’s defence allowed Evgeni Malkin to carry the puck deep into the slot; the superstar centre took full advantage of the opportunity and brought the Penguins to within two goals:

Chris Kunitz scored the third goal, on the power play, but more encouraging for Pittsburgh was Schultz’s role in the marker. Not only did the depth defenceman make the initial power-play zone entry, but he contributed the crucial tip that helped create a rebound for Kunitz to cash in:

That was as close as the Penguins would come.

The series shifts back to Pittsburgh, there for the taking by either side. The outcome will depend greatly on Kessel, Malkin and the rest. It will also depend on players like Schultz, who was elevated over veteran Ben Lovejoy in the third period, and Ian Cole, who played eight of the final 20 minutes in the game.

It will also be determined by which version of the Lightning show up the rest of the way. Will it be the team that executed its game plan to near perfection for 40 minutes, or the one that collapsed in the third period and nearly blew all that hard work?

Either way, the rest of the Eastern Conference Final is going to be must-watch hockey.

Statistics courtesy of NHL.com, Natural Stat Trick and Corsica Hockey.

Jonathan Willis covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for more of his work.