Lightning’s inability to capitalize on five-minute power play in Game 4 could come back to haunt them

Despite the momentum shift, the Panthers crawled back to continue taking full advantage in the series. Where has it all gone wrong for the Lightning? How did a sneaky Cup contender fall this far out of favor?

For starters, there hasn’t been much response from the Lightning to the physicality of the Panthers. Hagel may have been targeted following his own big hit against Aleksander Barkov, but they’ve let the Panthers get away with quite a bit more than expected.

The league has also let the Panthers get away with more than they probably should have. It’s still to be seen if Ekblad or Niko Mikkola will have supplemental disciplines for their discretions, but Matthew Tkachuk already got away with a questionable hit.

In Game 3, Tkachuk took a run at Lightning star forward Jake Guentzel, and there was no retaliation from the league aside from a five-minute penalty.

The Lightning also had one of the best power plays in the NHL heading into the playoffs, cooking at a 25.86% success rate. That was good for fifth in the NHL, but it’s been invisible in the playoffs.

In 13 man advantage opportunities against the Panthers, the Lightning have capitalized with one power play goal.  Far from good enough, especially when they’re getting so many chances.

The Lightning are getting good work from their superstar goalie Andrei Vasilevksiy, but Nikita Kucherov hasn’t been his usual dominant self. He hasn’t scored a goal in the series and the Lightning are hurting because of it.

Heading into the postseason, the Lightning seemed to have everything a team needed to compete for the Stanley Cup. On the brink of elimination, however, things aren’t looking good in Tampa Bay.