An Bucket of Ice Water to the Face

The Tampa Bay Lightning got dismantled 7-1 by the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, and the Bolts are left to reassess and decide what level they're going to perform at for the rest of the season.

At this time last year we as observers were able to write off blowout losses and direct blame at a few easy targets: the stunningly sub-NHL goaltending they were getting from Mike Smith and Dan Ellis, the difficulties of adapting to a new coaching system, and injuries to what were supposed to be key forwards. But despite these things, we could generally say last November that the Lightning were trending in the right direction.

This season? The team is collecting wins, but usually only at home, and they've lost their last two home games. And the Maple Leafs, who are trending positively themselves this season, are still a beatable team. They've been beating up on weaker opponents this year, but routinely getting pumped by equal or stronger clubs. But the Leafs fed the Lightning last night. Why?

In the post-game scrum, Bolts Captain Vincent Lecavalier pointed to the penalty trouble, and then breakdowns in the playing system after the first period: too many individual efforts, players getting out of position, trying to win the game with their legs instead of their heads. Mistakes were made as a result, and the Leafs got their looks and the sunk their putts.

The goaltending has not been great, but it has also not been the horror show that we saw last year. This time, the blame wafts, fart-like, toward more amorphous reasons: lack of cohesiveness, lack of discipline, lack of... what? Defence, and the ability to squeeze out wins against beatable teams.

The Lightning routinely show that they are capable of beating the class of the NHL. Recall November wins over the Blackhawks, Flyers and Penguins. They are also demonstrating that they can lay down like the no-names used to on Saturday morning wrestling and let the opponent of the night grandstand and eventually go in for the easy pin.

Last season we saw a team that showed great promise, but also good doses of instability in the early months. Things settled down considerably after the additions of Dwayne Roloson and Eric Brewer. It may be that this year's incarnation is also waiting for some missing pieces to be added.

In the meantime, the players can talk about "working through it," and "executing," and "sticking to the system." The rest of us will sit back and watch, waiting to see if solutions for the team's problems can come from inside the room, or if they'll arrive via trade.

Your move, Steve Yzerman.