Brad Penner- USA Today Sports
Where would the Tampa Bay Lightning be at today without center Tyler Johnson?
I can tell you where the Lightning would be. They would be at home watching the Eastern Conference Finals instead of being in a deadlock series with the New York Rangers, which is what happened tonight. The Lightning can thank Johnson for putting in a hat trick that deflated the Rangers, and gave Tampa Bay the home-ice advantage in the series.
Johnson has always been among the Lightning’s best players, but his star power gets overshadowed by the offensive brilliance of Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay’s unquestioned leader. But beginning with their first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings, Stamkos found himself the target of opposing blue-lines, which meant that other players had to step up for the Lighting. Enter Johnson.
Johnson’s one-man show in Game 4 of the Red Wing series turned the Lightning’s sagging postseason hopes around, and it spearheaded Tampa Bay to a seven-game series victory over storied Detroit. Johnson’s spirited play in the Red Wings series also sparked him to dominate the Montreal Canadians in Round 2.
So if the Lightning had any hopes of tying up the series against the East best Rangers, Johnson – who was held pointless in Game 1 – was going to have to step up in a major way tonight. And step up he did.
Johnson is now the man that makes Tampa Bay’s deadly offense go, as Stamkos is still having trouble getting his offense in gear. Eventually, the Lightning are going to need Stamkos to get his mojo back if they expect to make a serious run at the Stanley Cup, but until he does, Johnson is going to have to be the man. Right now, that doesn’t sound bad at all to Lightning fans.
Kareem Gantt covers the wide world of sports for Rant Sports. For more from this author, follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, and add him to your network on Google.
