Ferrablog

The Lightning are down 3-1 after two periods at home to the Carolina Hurricanes, who are making them look like, well, the Carolina Hurricanes. They've been god-awful tonight, outshot 20-15, outchanced 14-9, and they seem to be going through the motions. I almost think the worst thing that could happen for the Lightning is to pull this one out; if they do, they just might lull themselves into thinking they can turn it on any time and win. This might be true against a team like Carolina, but it won't be true of anyone they'll face in the playoffs. Sure, Tortorella will chew them a new one even if they do end up winning, but the fact that they keep on winning is going to naturally lead any player to think they're doing everything right, even if they aren't.

That being said, I'll probably still end up rooting for them to pull it out anyway.

UPDATE: They did end up losing, 5-1. Had Marty St. Louis not missed an empty net on a 2-on-1 early in third and cut it to 3-2 with the home crowd getting whipped up, they might have done it. Instead, they sleepwalked from there, and boos were heard at the St. Pete Times Forum. If this butt-whipping doesn't shake their complacency, nothing will.