Lightning Round: Three Stars of the Week

Jan 23, 2023 - 12:00 PM

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It was a mixed bag of a week for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Wins against Seattle and Vancouver started things on the right foot, but they tripped up at the end of the week with lackluster losses to Edmonton and Alberta.

Everything was overshadowed by Steven Stamkos hitting the 500-goal mark (and capping it off with a hat trick). Had he not had one of the best weeks in his career there would probably be a lot more attention paid to the fact that the Lightning went 0-for-11 on the power play while posting a 73.3% penalty kill. So, the special teams didn’t have a great week.

Outside of the power play, the offense was okay (3.75 goals per game), but the defense struggled toward the end of the week and finished at 3.50 per game (granted the 3 empty net goals they allowed bumped that number up a bit).

Still, a 2-2 week on the West Coast isn’t the worst thing in the world. They have three more games before their bye week and they’re all at home. Hopefully, they can finish on a strong note.

Three Stars:

Alex Killorn

4 Games Played, 0 Goals, 4 Assists, 0.85 iXG, 15 iCF, 61.63 CF%

While he didn’t put any in the back of the net, Killorn has become a pretty solid set-up guy, which is nice since Stamkos is on his line. Killorn led the team in driving offense with 61.63% of the shot attempts in his team’s favor while he was on the ice. He was also on the ice for only 2 goals against in 56:00 minutes at 5v5.

Brandon Hagel

4 Games Played, 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 2 iXG, 12 iCF, 9 Hits Taken

Hagel was held off of the scoresheet against Calgay, but before that he had a 6-game point streak and is well on his way to a career-season. With the two assists he picked up this week he is up to 21, the most he’s had in a single season in his short career.

Steven Stamkos

4 Games Played, 5 Goals, 1 Assist, 1.72 ixG, 21 iCF, 70.83 FO%

We’re not surprised right? Even if hadn’t recorded history this week, the fact that he posted 5 goals in 4 games (the most in the NHL by any individual player over the last week) would have earned him top of the list honors. All five goals were scored at even strength as well. Yes, the power play is having a bit of a moment right now, but Stamkos and Co. are bumping right along at even strength. It’s another solid season for The Captain as he’s averaging 1.20 points per game, just slightly behind the career-high 1.31 he posted last season.

Lightning / NHL News

Good turned into the enemy of great for the Tampa Bay Lightning to end trip [Lightning Insider]

The Lightning had a chance to finish off the road trip with a strong effort against Calgary, unfortunately they got away from their game plan and couldn’t overcome their own mistakes to find a way to win (even though they were within a goal late in the game).

Mishkin’s Extra Shift: Flames 6, Lightning 3 [NHL.com]

Some of the jump that the Lightning had to kick off the trip in St. Louis had gone by the wayside by the time they finished things in Calgary.

Vancouver Canucks introduce new coach [Nucks Misconduct]

One of the great coaching change debacles in the history of the NHL has come to a conclusion. Bruce Boudreau is out and old friend Rick Tocchet is in.