VANCOUVER — The Tampa Bay Lightning knew coming into the season they'd have to make changes to their power play.
With star centre Steven Stamkos now plying his trade in Nashville, the Lightning simply couldn't ice the same personnel that made Tampa the best in the league with the man advantage last season.
After a few adjustments, though, the special teams unit has found its rhythm in recent weeks.
“Listen, we've kind of had the same power play for a lot of years, and we lost a big part of it in the off-season so you have to adjust, and if you don't do that in this league, you won't be around very long," head coach Jon Cooper said Sunday after his squad scored a pair of power-plays goals in a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.
"And I think, tribute to the players — they're a little open to moving things around and after probably a frustrating first couple weeks of the season, things really turned around for the guys. And that was big for us tonight.”
The Lightning (14-9-2) came into Sunday's game with the ninth-best power play in the league, operating at 24.7 per cent.
Tampa then went 2-for-4 with the man advantage against Vancouver, marking the sixth straight outing where the squad has scored a power-play goal.
A mix of systems and personnel make the Lightning's special teams tough to play against, said Canucks winger Kiefer Sherwood.
"It’s just very unpredictable when, obviously, (Kucherov) and Point and those guys get it off their tape so quick," he said. "It's kind of hard sometimes, the pressure. So I think it's a good lesson right now for us to learn from it and move on and hopefully make some adjustments down the stretch here.”
Midway through the second period, Nikita Kucherov sent a slap pass across the ice to Brayden Point, who blasted in a shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead.
Jake Guentzel then sealed the win late in the third when, stationed at the side of the net, he deflected a pass from Kucherov in to put Tampa up 3-2.
“(Kucherov) is a special player, so when the puck is on his stick, a lot of things happen," Guentzel said of his teammate. "He made a lot of nice plays tonight."
Kucherov returned to Tampa's lineup Sunday after missing two games with a lower-body injury.
The fact that he missed time made the three points (one goal, two assists) he posted in Vancouver all the more impressive, Cooper said.
“I've watched him do that for a lot of games," the coach said. "And I'm sure there's a couple passes he would like to have had back in the D zone in the third. But he's a special player and to pull games out like this, he's usually a big part of it. And he was tonight.”
HUGHES RALLIES
Canucks captain Quinn Hughes took a stick to the face from Brandon Hagel 55 seconds into the game and left the ice with blood dripping from his face.
He returned more than 10 minutes later and opened the scoring 16:08 into the first period with a seemingly no-look backhand shot that beat Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stick side.
It was the 50th goal of the defenceman's career and extended his points streak to seven games with three goals and 10 assists across the stretch.
“He’s been doing that all year," Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. "Big one for us. A hell of a goal.”
HOME ICE ADVANTAGE?
The Canucks (14-8-4) have struggled at Rogers Arena this season, with Sunday's result dropping their home record to 4-6-3.
The club has ample time to improve this month as it plays nine of its 14 games in Vancouver.
The Canucks continue a six-game homestand Tuesday when they host the St. Louis Blues.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2024.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press