The Big 3 Powering Bolts
Posted 5:17 PM ET | Comments 0
Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, and Martin St. Louis. The Tampa Bay Lightning's Big 3.
Before the series with New Jersey, one of the best defensive teams in hockey, the story regarding the Lightning was "What's Tampa Bay going to do when New Jersey shuts down their main line - where will the scoring come from?".
Funny thing happend on the way to answering that question - the Devils can't stop them.
After three games, the Big Three have combined for 16 points, 7 goals, and a +9 +/-
Meanwhile, John Madden, Sergei Brylin, and Jay Pandolfo - one of the top checking lines in the NHL - are a combined -9.
Perhaps the only thing more surprising than the Big 3's continued dominance in this series is the resurrection of young Johan Holmquist. Holmquist is actually outplaying the venerable Martin Brodeur - beating Brodeur in Goals Against (3.02 to Brodeur's 3.03) and Save Percentage (.902 to .871) while winning the last two games.
Tampa Bay also began to get scoring from secondary sources - like Vaclav Prospal and Filip Kuba.
Can the Devils recover and even the series? Certainly. Brodeur could easily steal one or two more games in this series - but at some point, New Jersey will need to find an answer for the Big 3 or they will be watching the remainder of the post season at home.
Before the series with New Jersey, one of the best defensive teams in hockey, the story regarding the Lightning was "What's Tampa Bay going to do when New Jersey shuts down their main line - where will the scoring come from?".
Funny thing happend on the way to answering that question - the Devils can't stop them.
After three games, the Big Three have combined for 16 points, 7 goals, and a +9 +/-
Meanwhile, John Madden, Sergei Brylin, and Jay Pandolfo - one of the top checking lines in the NHL - are a combined -9.
Perhaps the only thing more surprising than the Big 3's continued dominance in this series is the resurrection of young Johan Holmquist. Holmquist is actually outplaying the venerable Martin Brodeur - beating Brodeur in Goals Against (3.02 to Brodeur's 3.03) and Save Percentage (.902 to .871) while winning the last two games.
Tampa Bay also began to get scoring from secondary sources - like Vaclav Prospal and Filip Kuba.
Can the Devils recover and even the series? Certainly. Brodeur could easily steal one or two more games in this series - but at some point, New Jersey will need to find an answer for the Big 3 or they will be watching the remainder of the post season at home.