Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson was quite busy in the first period, facing 15 shots on goal. Without him between the pipes, this one could have gotten ugly quick for Tampa Bay. The Lightning have eight shots of their own but have yet to generate some real offensive pressure on Ray Emery. There were also a few too many neutral zone turnovers that need to be addressed.
If the Lightning are going to be victorious in this one, it has to stop relying solely on its goaltenders. Chicago will not stop generating shots (and high quality ones that is) on Roloson and if Roloson is going to face 15 shots each period, Tampa Bay’s offense needs to return the favor by spending more time in Chicago’s zone. The Blackhawks are going to shoot at just about everything and the Lightning need to take a page out of Chicago’s book and do that in the next two periods.
Chicago had some impressive opportunities on the power play at 8:55 of the first period after Ryan Shannon was called off for holding but Roloson made some key saves to keep this game scoreless.