The Canes’ aggressive pressure on the penalty kill isn’t fazing Tampa Bay’s power play
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper respects the Carolina Hurricanes’ penalty killing, calling it among the most aggressive and effective in the league.
At the same time ...
“They’re taking the gamble you can’t make plays under pressure, and we’re saying we can,” Cooper said after Game 1 of the playoff series with the Canes.
On Tampa Bay’s first three power plays Saturday in Game 4, the Canes’ penalty killers pressured and won that “gamble.” Then, the Lightning scored on three straight power plays, taking a 5-4 lead that Tampa Bay turned into a 6-4 victory and a 3-1 series lead.
It’s an interesting standoff. The Canes have such tough, crafty penalty killers as Jordan Staal, Brock McGinn, Brett Pesce, Jaccob Slavin and Brady Skjei. They also throw forwards Sebastian Aho, Martin Necas and Teuvo Teravainen into the mix for added speed and it has produced some shorthanded chances.
The Canes were third in penalty killing in the regular season (85.2 percent) and were third among playoff teams (88.2 percent) after their first-round victory over the Nashville Predators.
“There’s a reason they had one of the top penalty kills in the league,” Cooper said. “They’ve got a plan. It’s not all run and gun and hope the other team screws up. They pressure you and they know where they’re going and when they’re going. You have to work.”
What works well for Tampa Bay is being able to send out forwards Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Anthony Cirelli and defenseman Victor Hedman, who is almost like a fifth forward with his offensive ability. That’s a powerhouse power-play lineup and Alex Killorn is a part of it.
On their first power-play score Saturday, Aho pressured down ice but Kucherov swiftly carried the puck up the middle and into the Carolina zone. The puck was knocked into the left corner, but Kucherov chased after it and pushed it up the wall to Stamkos.
As Necas and Aho closed in on Stamkos, he got the puck to the middle of the ice to Killorn, who tipped the puck to Point for a shot. Canes goalie Petr Mrazek shouldered it down, but Killorn backhanded the puck toward the net, raising his stick, believing he had scored.
The puck hit off the crossbar, but directly to Stamkos closing in on the back side. Stamkos had an open net and didn’t miss as Skjei tried to get his stick on the puck.
“They don’t give you a lot of space,” Point said of the Canes. “They force you to make quick plays.”
The Lightning did and scored.
Kucherov scored his power-play goal in the second period with a shot from the top of the right circle as Cirelli screened Mrazek. Tampa Bay’s third power-play goal ended with two Canes killers flat on the ice.
It began with a loose puck high in the zone that had Staal diving and trying to clear, only to have Hedman slap at it and knock it toward the right corner to Cirelli. He waited until Skjei began to pressure, then passed to Kucherov, who quickly got it to Stamkos for a shot from the left circle and the score.
The Canes’ McGinn was caught out near the blue line when Staal tried to clear and had to quickly reverse and recover, but it was too late. McGinn and Pesce both dived trying to get a piece of the Stamkos shot but were left frustrated on the ice.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour discussed the Tampa Bay power play in his media briefing Saturday morning, hours before Game 4.
“We’re always making tiny adjustments, but at the end of the day, that’s five pretty talented players they’re throwing out there and no one’s really been able to stop them,” Brind’Amour said.
Brind’Amour’s message: the Canes had to limit their penalties.
“And then when we do get one, we’ve got to do our best to kill it,” he said.
The Canes tried their best. Three times, it worked. The last three times it didn’t.
The Canes will need to get it right in Game 5, Tuesday at PNC Arena. If they don’t, they might not have another chance this season.
Carolina Hurricanes vs Tampa Bay Lightning
When: Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh
TV: NBCSN
