Lightning take Game 1

The Pittsburgh Penguins and  Tampa Bay Lightning started their Eastern Conference Final series last night with Game 1 being played at the Consol Energy Center. Going into this, neither team had trailed yet during a series in these play offs and both had strong home ice records which would make it a key part of the game.

The Penguins wrapped up their second round series last Tuesday and so have had a shorter lay off time than the Tampa Bay Lightning who finished their series earlier, on the Sunday. The rest definitely showed as the Lightning looked fresher and more aware and alert than the Penguins.

This game was marred by some bad hits throughout the game. The first was by Ryan Callahan on Kris Letang early in the first period.  Letang was playing the puck near the boards and Callahan came up from behind and shoved Letang into the boards by leading with his elbow into his back. The Bolts were assessed a 5 minute power play, which the Penguins couldn't convert on. Letang had to go off for checks but returned later.

Chris Kunitz for the Penguins delivered a late, questionable hit on Tyler Johnson late in the first himself. With Johnson on the boards Kunitz braced for a hit but he stuck his leg out and caught Johnson with his knee. I would have expected both hits to receive supplemental discipline from the league but Callahan was cleared and we haven't heard about Kunitz.

Tampa Bay had to changed goalies late in the first with Ben Bishop being stretchered off after a suspected knee injury that kept him out of the rest of the game. Andrei Vasilevskiy came in for relief. He looked calm and assured in goal but the Penguins didn't test him as much as they should have.

The Bolts three goals in this game showed the difference, tonight at least. The Bolts are a fast team, much faster than the  Rangers or the Capitals and the Penguins will need to get used to that. But the Penguins defence needs to do more to prevent clean breakaways, like the one that befouled Maatta for Killorn's opening goal. The Bolts move the puck around a lot better than us and puck possession is going to be key in this series. Their power play goal from Palat showed us that.

The Penguins did manage to save some face, scoring on a power play to at least get on the board. But the Bolts had done their damage and yet again, Crosby and Malkin were silent in the play offs. That needs to change, they need to produce.