When settling into a playoff series, the last thing you want to do is take a bunch of penalties and give the special teams a lot of work. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins are not settling in to this first-round series as planned.
Lightning Vs. Penguins, Game 1: Tampa Controlling Play To Start, But Penalties Dominate Scoreless First
The teams combined for 10 minutes of penalty time in the first 20 minutes of play -- six for the Lightning, four for the Penguins -- as the physical play dominated things early on. Neither team was able to capitalize with the man advantage, so we’re still scoreless.
In terms of five-on-five play, the Lightning are certainly dictating things. They’re getting more scoring chances, getting the cycle going and controlling the puck in the offensive zone. Shots are in their favor, 14 to 10, and most of those Pittsburgh shots have come on the power play.
It’s been a nice start, overall, for Tampa, after four years without playoff hockey. Dominic Moore thought he had a goal about midway through the first, but Marc-Andre Fleury somehow kept the puck out. As Moore raised his arms in the air, the puck trickled back out of the front of the crease. Perhaps it was luck or perhaps it was a beauty of a save, but Fleury’s been good so far for the Pens.
Now, the rest of the team needs to get on board at even strength. Or, I guess they could just keep drawing penalties. That could work, too.
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