5 Ways your team can beat the Lightning in the NHL playoffs

5 Ways any team can beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL playoffs

BOSTON - FEBRUARY 28: Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Louis Domingue looks back at the goal scored by the Bruins' Brad Marchand in the third period. The Boston Bruins host the Tampa Bay Lightning in a regular season NHL hockey game at TD Garden in Boston on Feb. 28, 2019. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /

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BOSTON, MA – FEBRUARY 28: Boston Bruins left defenseman Zdeno Chara (33) clears the puck off the left pad of Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 28, 2019, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

1. Limit their shots on goal

Whoa. Wait a second, is this a legitimate slide? Congratulations, if you didn’t stop reading immediately after finding out this whole post was a joke, you’ve made it to the section in which the true key to success is revealed. Any team that can take away the Lightning’s shots on net will give themselves a chance to win.

Obviously this is easier said than done. The goal of any NHL team is to limit shots on net on any given night but digging through the (very few) Tampa Bay losses, there is a slight trend. Better defensive teams are able to limit Tampa’s shots on goal and win games against them. We saw it recently with the Boston Bruins on Feb. 28th. A physical, defensive-minded team that held the Lightning to only 21 shots and won the game by a score of 4-1.

Before this game, we have to reach all the way back to Feb. 7th, a game they lost to a red-hot Jordan Binnington and the St. Louis Blues by a score of 1-0 in overtime. It was a 32-save shutout for #Winnington. Two days before this, the Vegas Knights beat the Lightning in a shootout, holding them to only 26 shots though three periods and five minutes of overtime. This team doesn’t lose often, but when they do, it’s usually easy to pin point at least one of the reasons why.

Related Story. Tampa Bay Lightning set to coast into NHL playoffs. light

It’s hardly fair to say that the Lightning are beatable because they lost three games in the span of a month to three playoff teams, but here we are. There’s no other way to beat the Lightning than by playing what is defined as “playoff hockey.” Hard, physical hockey with defensive-minded players and a hot goaltender. It’s a formula we’ve heard of before.

Maybe there are a few other teams with a chance at taking down the NHL’s regular season champions. A sprinkle of magic wouldn’t hurt, though.

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