Third time is a charm, Lightning head to Boston in search of elusive first win

Game Three: Tampa Bay Lightning (0-2-0) at Boston Bruins (3-0-0)

Time: 1:00 PM EST

Location:TD Garden, Boston

TV/Stream/Radio: Scripps, NHLN, TVAS, NESN, 102.5

Odds: Lightning +140

Know the Opponents: Stanley Cup of Chowder

After dropping their first two games at home, the Tampa Bay Lightning are heading north for another division game as they take on the Boston Bruins in an Atlantic Division afternoon showdown. The match-up will feature two teams living up to (or down to) different expectations. After missing the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, Boston was supposed to be in another year of rebuilding, yet they’ve jumped out to a 3-0-0 record.

Granted, two of the wins have come against Buffalo and Chicago, but the Bruins have been solid in each of their three games. They’ve allowed just five goals on the season (all at 5v5) with Jeremy Swayman posting a .966 SV% in his two wins. Teams have been able to generate some scoring chances against them as they are allowing 26.45 (right around the Lightning’s 26.21) per sixty minutes, but Boston has been keeping them out of the dangerous spots allowing just 8.82 HDCA/60.

The offense has been spread out with nine different skaters already recording a goal and fourteen of their nineteen skaters picking up at least one point. As usual David Pastrnak is up at the top of the leaderboard with 4 points. One line that hasn’t quite found their footing yet features some familiar names. The combination of Tanner Jeannot, Fraser Minton, and Mikey Eyssimont is getting out-chanced and out-scored early in the season, but they have thrown 14 hits as a trio.

Tampa Bay is at the point where they really can’t worry about what the other team is doing. They have to work on themselves, primarily, getting the puck out of their zone and through the middle of the ice. Their offense has always started in the defensive zone, but against Ottawa and New Jersey, they’ve struggled to find any flow to their game, often relying on long, low-percentage stretch passes to move the puck.

Simple, quick passes and proper spacing should help move the puck. Once they get moving in the right direction, keeping the puck in the zone is a priority. They did it for portions of the second period against New Jersey and tilted the ice for a bit, forcing the Devils to pitch-fork the puck out instead of being able to leave with possession.

Once in the zone (and feel free to hear this in Phil Esposito’s frustrated growl of a voice) generating some more shots would be nice. The Lightning are currently 30th in shot attempts at 46.52 CF/60 and they are dead last with 20.31 SF/60. “Shoot the puck” can be an overused war cry from the cheap seats, but it can also be the truth.

Darren Raddysh’s third-period goal is a pretty good illustration to the point.

The clip begins with Victor Hedman in the slot opting to pass the puck and ends with Darren Raddysh in a slightly less dangerous spot just ripping one on net. Not every goal has to be a highlight goal, and the Lightning can be a little too selfless at times. When a team is struggling, something the best thing to do is just shoot the puck.

It’s not going to be easy for the Lightning to pick up a win, especially in a building where they have won just 12 times in 58 games, but if they want to make life easier on themselves this early in the season they will have to find a way (yup, shameless plug time).

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Kellen Moore places pressure on one of his key assistants after Saints' narrow loss that pushes them farther down NFC standings

The New Orleans Saints just came up short of an upset against the New England Patriots in Week 6. Kellen Moore's offense played fairly well, albeit struggling some in the red zone once again. For the defense, the inexperienced group showed some flaws in the first half that forced the offense to play a bit more through the air than they probably would've preferred.

Head coach Kellen Moore was honest about the defensive issues that glared early on in the loss after the game, too.

Kellen Moore expects better starts from defense

After the loss to New England, where the Saints struggled mightily in the first half on defense, Moore was honest about his expectations from the defensive unit. He knows they need to get off to better starts in order to avoid the offense being behind the eight ball. Against the Patriots, lapses in the secondary and the pass rush not getting home were both issues early on.

"We're not starting fast enough from a defensive perspective." - Kellen Moore on slow starts recently

Against Drake Maye's Patriots, the Saints allowed the young QB to record a perfect 158.3 passer rating in the first half of play. Somehow, New Orleans was down just six points at the break. While the pressure got around Maye at times in the game, the Saints could just never seem to actually bring him down before the ball got out.

This strong comment from Moore has placed some pressure on defensive coordinator Brandon Staley to have his unit even more prepared for the start of games.

Additionally, the Saints may need to make adjustments early on in games, compared to what their recent performances have proven. Against New England, the Saints back end struggled badly against play action passes. Their communication, particularly between young players, simply was not good enough.

Let's see if the tough love from Moore after the defeat pushes the Saints defense to come out and make a big play early on next weekend against the Bears.

As of now, New Orleans sits in last place of the NFC South at 1-5 on the season. It will be extremely tough to dig their way out of that in any capacity, but in order to garner any wins, they can't continue to place themselves in a ditch early in matchups.

 

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