Preparing for the resumption of the regular season without many of your top players — let alone your head coach — isn’t easy. But the Lightning have tried to get the most out of their two practice days coming out of the break for players not participating in the 4 Nations Faceoff.
The numbers — only nine forwards and six defensemen — were thin Wednesday and Thursday at TGH Ice Plex, but the practices were spirited. Especially Thursday’s hour-long session, which ended with many players hunched over or on one knee grasping to catch their breath.
The Lightning were without the five players who competed in the 4 Nations tournament — U.S. forward Jake Guentzel; Canadian forwards Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli; and Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman — as well as Jon Cooper, who coached Canada. Lightning assistants Jeff Blashill, Jeff Halpern and Rob Zettler conducted the practices.
“Guys have been off for a while, so (Wednesday’s) practice in particular was kind of touch the puck, skate up and down the sheet, get your hands back, get your legs back, do a little bit of bumping and grinding at the end but not too much,” Blashill said. “And then (Thursday), we tried to increase the bumping and grinding.
“There’s two ways to get yourself back ready. One is just pure aerobic and skating, and one is when you have to really grind against people that can wear you down. So, we did a little bit more of that (Thursday).
“We ended with a little scrimmage,” Blashill continued, “because I think it is important for guys to feel the other nine guys around them on the ice and what that time and space is like, and handle the puck in little areas.”
The Lightning will have another practice Saturday — expected to be a full-team session — before resuming play Sunday against Seattle at Amalie Arena. Currently third in the Atlantic Division, four points ahead of Ottawa, Tampa Bay will try to solidify its hold on a postseason spot over the season’s remaining 27 games.
“You can’t take these practices for granted, because if you have soft practices, that can lead onto the ice and you kind of get in that lackadaisical kind of mentality,” Lightning center Nick Paul said. “... You just keep ramping it up until you’re at that game level and you’re ready to fire again.”
The Lightning (31-20-4) overcame a difficult January during which they played 16 games in 29 days. They went 4-0-1 over their final five games heading into the break, earning nine of a possible 10 points.
“January was a real tough schedule: back-to-backs, traveling and the amount of games we played,” Paul said. “And when it’s this close in the standings, every game is important. You’re laying out every night.
“You’re kind of playing that playoff hockey, blocking shots, hits, just giving everything you can. So, to play that many games and then to have a nice little two-week break is nice to get the body to rest a little bit and get the legs ready.”
The grind will resume Sunday, though the Lightning’s schedule coming out of the break will benefit them. Twenty-eight of the 32 teams play Saturday, but Tampa Bay will get an extra day before its first game. Sunday, they’ll host a Kraken team coming off a game Saturday in Sunrise. Tuesday’s home game against Edmonton will be the Oilers' third in a four-day stretch.
“Now we can kind of start this next end-of-the-year run here looking at the standings and saying we’re in a solid spot,” Blashill said. “Now, you can’t come out of this thing and not be ready. You’ve got to make sure you’re ready to go, because you’ve got to keep going. It’s going to be a tight run all the way to the end. But we’ve focused all year on building our team and building our game, and hopefully we can continue that.”
Note: Backup goaltender Jonas Johansson (lower-body injury), who hasn’t played since Jan. 28, did not participate in either practice this week. Asked if Johansson would be take part Saturday, Blashill said he didn’t anticipate it.
Up next
vs. Kraken, 6 Sunday, Amalie Arena TV/radio: FanDuel Sports Sun; 102.5-FM
