Lightning, Canadiens engaged in a well-defined special teams war

Special teams have played a huge part in the Lightning's first-round series against the Canadiens, which is tied at two games apiece. Going into Game 5 Wednesday at Benchmark International Arena, there's been an average of 16:30 of combined power-play time.

"You want to kind of avoid (penalties); we like our 5-on-5 game," Lightning forward Gage Goncalves said. "We want to keep lines rolling. But it's kind of what the series has been. But we do a good job on the bench. The guys that maybe might not go out there for four minutes, they don't power play, they don't PK, are staying in it. Those are usually mostly the most emotionally invested ones out of all of them, usually talking on the bench the most.

"So we've done a good job of it, trying to stay up and, honestly, that speaks volumes about this group. Whatever challenge we kind of get thrown at, whether it's we're killing four times in a period or on the power play four times in the period, that next shift out on 5-on-5, usually that next line gets it done pretty well."

Power plays typically dry up during the postseason, but that hasn't been the case in this series. And for a Lightning squad that ended the regular-season just 1-of-32 on the power play and that ranked 17th in the NHL during the regular season after being a top-five unit the previous three years, it remains a grind.

"There's just been a lot of power plays," coach Jon Cooper said. "It hasn't been a big part of the game. We're both clicking at between 20 and 30%, so we're kind of season average-ish type thing. I just think the volume of penalties has been a factor (more than) the power-play success rate has been."

The Lightning are 4-for-20 in the series, their 20% success rate in line with the regular season (20.7%). But they've scored some big goals on the man advantage. All four of their power-play goals have tied the score, and both of Brandon Hagel's did so in the third period. Hagel wasn't a part of the first-team power-play unit for much of the season until the end.

This series has been so tight, there's only been one multiple-goal lead. The fact that the Lightning have used the man advantage to tie the score while playing from behind is notable. How big would it be for them to get one to take a lead in Game 5, with the home crowd behind them?

Right now, Cooper has no gripes with the officials, because while they might be calling more penalties, it's going both ways. Through four games, the Lightning have 20 power-play opportunities, Montreal 19. He would, however, like to see the Lightning cut down on the infractions they're committing in the offensive zone.

"I feel it's been equitable in a sense," Cooper said. "Whether we can debate the consistency of the missed calls, I think both fan bases probably have a gripe, or they'll find a gripe. My issue with the way things are going is if there was a massive discrepancy, one team's got, like, eight more power plays, and I don't think that this series has deserved that (criticism).

"... If we talk about calling the standard, I guess a lot of these are being called. ... Some are missed. Some are, who knows, maybe you think a little ticky-tacky. But again, I think it's the volume of the penalties both coaches would probably like to see go down. ... But what the refs are calling, for the most part, are pretty much all penalties."

D'Astous update

Cooper said Charle-Edouard D'Astous will be a game-time decision for Game 5, though the defenseman was still on the ice working with the scratches following Wednesday's morning skate. Both forward Oliver Bjorkstrand and defenseman Max Crozier came off the ice before him, indicating both are likely to draw in.

Game 5 projected lineup

Forwards

Brandon Hagel-Brayden Point-Nikita Kucherov

Gage Goncalves-Anthony Cirelli-Jake Guentzel

Zemgus Girgensons-Yanni Gourde-Nick Paul

Corey Perry-Dominic James-Oliver Bjorkstand

Defensemen

J.J. Moser-Darren Raddysh

Ryan McDonagh-Erik Cernak

Emil Lilleberg-Max Crozier

Goaltender

Andrei Vasilevskiy

• • •

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