Islanders Play With Tons of Grit

The Lightning now know their opponent for round 2 and its not as favorable as their round 1 match up was. Lightning will open the best of 7 series at home against the New York Islanders likely on Wednesday. The good news for the Bolts is they were able to get some rest and might get a key defender back at some point during this series. Anton Stralman is looking likely to return at some point during this series which would be a big boost for the defense. The bad news is the Islanders have size and speed and play a full 60 minute game, playing with tons of grit and toughness. Islanders are coming off a tough series win over the Florida Panthers in which they displayed resiliency and made clutch plays throughout the series.

Islanders are led by John Tarvares, who is one of the top centers in the league and can take over games at times, Lightning need to watch him every time he is on the ice. Islanders have one of the better checking lines led by center Anders Lee, who is just a pest on the forecheck and makes life miserable for the opponent. Their blue line is led by Johnny Boychuck and Nick Leddy whom both are solid two way players and are dangerous on the powerplay. The biggest surprise for the Islanders has been the play of their goalie Thomas Griess who has been very consistent and was outstanding in the last couple of games against the Panthers.

Keys for the Lightning against Islanders will be to play to their strengths which is using their speed. Bolts must play a north and south game and get Griess moving east and west which should open holes on the net. Good news is the Lightning have Ben Bishop who is the surperior goalie and should give the Lightning a chance to win every night. If the Lightning can find consistency on the powerplay, they can dominate this series, but I have a feeling its going to be a 6 or 7 game series. Islanders will present many challenges, but the Lightning have the experience and the better goaltender. Lightning will have to do a better job at staying out of the penatly box and must be better offensivley 5 on 5. Game 1 is Wednesday, this is going to be a dog fight and should be an entertaining series.

Lightning Win Game 5 Advancing to 2nd Round

With goalie Ben Bishop leading the way, the Lightning found a way to win knocking out the Red Wings in 5 games.  Behind a 34 save shutout by Bishop and a clutch goal by Alex Killorn with less than 2 minutes left, the Lightning won 1-0, and are now moving on to the second round to face either the Panthers or Islanders. The Lightning were not at their best last night as it was struggle for them to get anything going offensively, but it didn't matter as Bishop was outstanding. Bishop basically said "I got this guys, just get me one goal", and that's what happen.

It seemed like every Red Wings shot was coming on a breakaway, and Bishop stop every one of them determined to end this series in 5 games. Bishop collected his 4th career shutout in the playoffs as three of them have came on series clinching wins. Bishop has been the best goalie in the league this year, and will need to continue to do so if the Lightning want to get far in the playoffs again. Bishop's size and athleticism is just so rare in a goalie, that at times he is just a brick wall on the ice. He just does a great job of being patient and letting the shots come to him, and overall is just a very smart player.

"You look for a goalie to keep you in it, and in a lot of sense he won us that game," Killorn said. "Second period, (three) breakaways and (if) they score on one, it's a completely different game."

Now with some time to rest before the next series, hopefully the team can fine tune some things especially on defensive zone coverage and their special teams. The next round will be challenging again, but hopefully the team can get healthier and with Bishop playing like he is, the Lightning have a chance against anyone.

.@Benbishop30 has been a brick wall tonight. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/qPQKSJx4le

— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) April 22, 2016

Bolts Strike Late to Win Game 4

It wasn't pretty last night, but the Lightning managed to find a way, winning 3 to 2 over the Red Wings taking a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Lightning played their game last night using their speed and playing more of a north and south game which is key for them to have success. They came out strong in the first period, playing physical and putting constant pressure on the Red Wings D-men. The Bolts forwards played with a shoot first mentality totaling 14 shots on goal in the first period which was closed to what they had all for game 3 with 16 shots.

However, the big story of the game was the Lightning special teams as their powerplay accounted for all three goals. They were crisp with their puck movement and were assertive with their shots on goal as it look like they had finally figured out what to do with the man advantage. Jonathan Drouin and Nikita Kucherov were the best players on the ice last night and good things happen when they had the puck on their sticks. Kucherov score 2 goals and assist while Drouin had three assists including the game winner to Ondrej Palat which was a great play.

Palat goal pic.twitter.com/J9eboShgXR

— Stephanie (@myregularface) April 20, 2016

The combination of Kucherov and Drouin on the powerplay is tough to stop because both guys know what to do with the puck, and both are looking to make plays instead of waiting for something to happen. Only 21, Drouin is showing his potential in this series as he has been a force with the puck on his stick and it looks like he is going to be a big contributor going forward.

Ben Bishop was outstanding again and allowed the team to have a chance to win in the third period. He made big saves in critical moments and has been consistent in the series so far. Even after blowing a 2-0 lead, the team didn't panicked and just continued to play their game and came up with big plays at the right time. Huge win for the team and now have a great opportunity to end the series with game 5 back in Tampa on Thursday night.

Bolts Need Another Gear to Win Game 4

The Lightning looked real strong during games 1 and 2, winning 3-2 and 5-2 respectively, taking a 2-0 series lead against the Red Wings. The team played with determination and were in attack mode for both games which is key for the Lighting to have success. Now I'm thinking just play the same way in game 3 and this series is over with a 3 games to none series lead. Well that didn't happen as the Lighting would lose 2-0 to the Red Wings making it a 2 to 1 series lead for the Bolts. Game three was really frustrating for me to watch as the team was just sitting back playing not to lose, plus all the penalties which hurt our chances of getting into any kind of rhythm offensively. Lightning didn't use their speed and didn't forcheck aggressively like they usually do, that needs to change in game 4.

The Lightning need to find another gear if they want to win game 4 as the Red Wings will come out desperate tonight in attempt to tie the series. Tonight's first five minutes of the game are crucial for the Lightning as they need to come out fast and attack Red Wings Goalie Petr Mrazek early and often. Get that puck in deep and forcheck the hell out of the Red Wings defenders, and be physical, but smart at the same time.

Last game, our line of Johnson, Kucherov, and Killorn combined for zero shots, that just can't happen if the Lightning want to win, must get that line going early tonight. This team usually does a good job responding after a difficult loss, let's hope that continues tonight. One thing to watch for is look for the Lightning forwards to use some fake shot dekes against Mrazek as he is really aggressive and it's something the Lightning should take advantage of. Lightning just need to keep the pedal to the medal tonight and they should be up 3-1 in the series later tonight. Also let's just start the game with a Boyle Abdelkader fight and watch Abdelkader cry like a little girl again like he did in game three.

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Real Bolts Talk will be a blog that discusses key topics involving the Tampa Bay Lightning and much more. The blog will discuss the draft, free agency, player analysis, game analysis, and anything else related with the Lightning. All of this coming straight from a fan's perspective providing opinions and analysis concerning the Lightning.

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