One of the many pieces of advice Gage Goncalves has received from his Lightning teammates and taken to heart is to try to enjoy every moment of his rookie season.
“It’s always been a dream growing up to play in the NHL or win the Stanley Cup,” Goncalves said last week before his first game at Madison Square Garden. “But everybody’s been telling me to embrace your first year and kind of take it all in and don’t take stuff for granted.”
The Lightning always thought highly of Goncalves, but the 24-year-old has seized the opportunity to be in the lineup. As he nears his first NHL postseason, he’s been able to carve a valuable niche for himself in the middle-six forward group.
Tampa Bay will need scoring depth in the playoffs, and the recent injury to right wing Oliver Bjorkstrand makes it even more important.
Goncalves is starting to contribute offensive punch at the right time, with six points in his last five games. He followed his first career multi-goal game — he scored twice Friday against Detroit — with a two-assist effort Sunday against Buffalo.
Goncalves has shown the ability to made good on his scoring chances but also exhibited good vision for playmaking on the rush. He is plus-5 over those five games, an indication that he’s playing a responsible two-way game.
“He’s working, and he’s, for sure, more confident,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “He’s taken a lot of the risk out of his game, and he’s making the plays that are there. He’s not trying to manufacture plays out of nothing just to make something happen. It takes a little bit of discipline to do that.
“I think he’s a little more familiar with the league, and his confidence is really growing. He’s got a skill set that can match that confidence. So, it’s good for him and also good for us.”
Going further back, Goncalves has 11 points (including six goals) over his past 17 games. He’s converted nearly a third of his shots (6-for-19, 31.6%) during that span and has a plus-6 rating. He’ll be the first to say that his offensive opportunities are a result of responsible play in the defensive zone.
Goncalves also has shown he can thrive with different linemates. He’s played well on the matchup line with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel. His two-goal game came alongside Yanni Gourde and Bjorkstrand. With Bjorkstrand out, he meshed well Sunday on a revamped line with Nick Paul and Conor Geekie.
“He wins his battles, he does the little things, and that’s what matters right now,” Gourde said. “It’s the little things that are gonna matter a ton later on, and you’ve got to take pride in every single one, and I think he’s been doing a great job at it. He’s very structured defensively. He’s doing a great job on his wall work and trying to win those battles.”
Goncalves played just two NHL games last season, and his push to make the Lightning out of training camp was halted by injury. He was one of the first players to be called up in November but was sent down to Syracuse in mid-January after posting just one goal and one assist in 26 games.
He returned to the Lightning two weeks later and posted points in seven of his first 11 games. He’s continued to improve from there.
Goncalves said he’s learned from his veteran teammates in the dressing room.
“It’s just kind of the mentality of these games, just when to try and make a play, when to look for offense and when to play it smart or just win a shift at the end of the day,” he said. “So yeah, hopefully I can kind of keep picking off these older guys. They’ve been doing it for so long and they’re unbelievable at it for a reason, so hopefully just pick that stuff up.”
Now, as he prepares for his first playoff run, it appears Goncalves is with the Lightning for good.
“I don’t think I’ve really wrapped my head around it yet,” he said. “It’s obviously a huge privilege to be here. There’s a reason you’re here, but I still don’t want to get complacent or anything. It’s just so I’m trying not to look ahead to it. I probably will after that last game.
“We’re still trying to fight for that first place in our division, so I’m trying to keep playing my game and hopefully can help this team get wins. And whatever I have to do, just trying to do it through the best of my ability.”
