On Friday, Julien BriseBois held his end-of-season press conference. A prevailing theme emerged from the session: he likes his team. Some Lightning fans may wonder how he can feel this way after the team’s third consecutive first-round playoff loss.
BriseBois explained his reasoning during the presser, and we’ll get to that. First, let’s unpack what happened in the series against the Panthers.
The Panthers played at a championship level. BriseBois began his press conference by congratulating and complimenting the Florida Panthers. One of his statements summed up the quality of the opposition’s play during the series: “They didn’t shoot themselves in the foot.”
For the vast majority of the five games, the Panthers played mistake-free hockey. Yes, they had some hiccups — they yielded a few odd-mans in Game Three, which was the lone Lightning win, and endured some isolated breakdowns at points in the other four games. But for the most part, they played strong, structured hockey. They took away the Lightning’s time and space. They checked. They protected the front of their net. And crucially, they avoided errors that might have fueled the Lightning’s attack.
BriseBois wasn’t the only one complimenting the Panthers. Andrei Vasilevskiy did so as well. He called them “the most consistent team in the league by a mile” and “a joy to watch.” He didn’t expand on that second statement, but I imagine he means that they are a joy to watch because of their attention to detail and how well they execute their game plan.
The Panthers have a championship pedigree, and, as Jon Cooper said after Game Five, they know “how to do it” (win in the playoffs). We’ll see if they maintain this high level in the second round against Toronto. If they play the same way they did against the Lightning, they’ll be very hard to beat.
The injury bug hit the Lightning at the worst possible time. The Lightning played this series without Oliver Bjorkstrand, one of their two deadline acquisitions. Brandon Hagel was out for the final game and a half due to a concussion from the Aaron Ekblad hit. Anthony Cirelli suffered a Grade-Two MCL sprain early in Game One and battled through it for the next four games. Victor Hedman played a portion of Game Four and all of Game Five with a broken foot. Nikita Kucherov contended with a hand injury during the final two months of the season. Yanni Gourde, Luke Glendening, Nick Paul, and Erik Cernak also had injuries.
No team in the playoffs is completely healthy (and BriseBois acknowledged it’s likely that the Panthers are also contending with injuries). But there’s no question that the Lightning were dealt a tough hand.
Would the series have looked different had Bjorkstrand been in the Lightning’s lineup? How much did the knee injury affect Cirelli’s ability to hound pucks? The quantity and severity of the injuries on the Lightning’s side did play a role in the series.
The biggest break in the series went against the Lightning. In any postseason series, there are a handful of big plays that can tip the balance one way or the other. Sometimes, those big plays result from fortunate bounces.
Arguably, the biggest moment of the series was Seth Jones’ game-winning goal near the end of Game Four, which came eleven seconds after the Panthers had tied the game at two. Jones wristed a puck towards the net from the right point. The Lightning were in position defensively and had Ryan McDonagh, one of the best shot-blocking defensemen in the game, occupying Jones’ shooting lane. Improbably, the puck squeezed through the opening in McDonagh’s skate (connecting the blade to the boot) and fluttered past Vasilevskiy.
The Lightning have now failed to get out of the first round for three straight years. It’s natural for fans to ask the question. Are changes needed?
That’s why BriseBois’ press conference was so informative. He’s leaning more into what his team showed over a six-month 82-game regular season than a one-week five-game playoff series.
During the regular season, the Lightning finished first in offense, fourth in defense, fifth in power play, and sixth in penalty killing. BriseBois referenced the fact that only eight teams over the last 20 seasons (since the salary cap was instituted) placed in the top six in those four categories. BriseBois said that if the Lightning can replicate those same metrics next season, he’d be “ecstatic.”
He also stated how much he enjoyed watching this year’s team play and that they are “one heck of a great hockey team.” They have a Vezina finalist (Vasilevskiy). The back-to-back Art Ross winner, who is also a Hart finalist (Kucherov). A Selke finalist (Cirelli). BriseBois expects Hedman to finish fourth or fifth in the Norris voting.
In the end, the message from Julien BriseBois was a clear, emphatic one. He likes his team.
