Anthony Cirelli is center of Lightning’s line experimentation formula
BRANDON — After a Game 2 loss to the Maple Leafs in the first round of last season’s playoffs, Lightning coach Jon Cooper was asked about facing Toronto’s center depth. Cooper tilted his head and looked at the reporter quizzically.
“So how many centers deep are we?” Cooper responded defiantly before walking off. “Let me ask you that. Give me (Brayden) Point, (Anthony) Cirelli and (Nick) Paul all day against anybody in the league.”
Point is the jet-fast, top-line scoring machine who paces the offense. Paul is a big body with good feet made to anchor a heavy third line.
Then there’s second-line center Cirelli, a “line driver,” as the coach calls him. He’s the player Cooper looks to build a line around when he wants to create matchup problems because of the way Cirelli plays a relentless 200-foot, two-way game. Cirelli’s start this season is a reminder of what makes him such an impactful player and one who continues to get better.
“Just the way he plays holds guys accountable in how they play,” Cooper said. “And then when you get those similar mindsets … they’re pretty tough to play against when they play with a little piss and vinegar. But it’s a credit to Tony because guys, I always feel, elevate their game when they’re on this line.”
Entering Saturday night’s home game against the Maple Leafs, the Lightning’s sixth game of the season, Cirelli had been a part of seven line combinations. Only twice had his line produced fewer shot attempts than it allowed.
“Whoever your linemates are in the game, it really shouldn’t change too much based off playing the right way, systemwise,” Cirelli said “But we have such a good group, a deep team, that it doesn’t matter kind of who you’re with, you’re getting two good linemates.”
When Cooper placed Cirelli with Tanner Jeannot and Mikey Eyssimont during last Sunday’s game in Ottawa, they were the Lightning’s best line, creating a team-high 17 shot attempts and scoring both Lightning goals in a 5-2 loss. In an overtime loss in Buffalo on Tuesday, Cooper’s second-period line shuffle placed Cirelli with Brandon Hagel and Jeannot. Cirelli won a puck battle behind the net and fed Hagel for a goal that gave the Lightning their first score of the game late in that period after they fell behind 2-0.
“We’re just very similar in that we want to get pucks back and we also can make plays,” said Hagel. “When we’re on the forecheck, we’re always supporting each other, so if I get there and (there’s) pressure and (the puck) goes off the wall, Tony’s there to get it, too.
“I think that’s one of those things where our work ethic is probably the most important attribute for both of us, and when that’s going, I think we’re just getting pucks back … and creating opportunities for ourselves.”
Cirelli missed the first 23 games of last season recovering from shoulder surgery. His return in early December fueled the Lightning, especially defensively. They won 15 of their next 20 games, allowing two goals or fewer in 11 of them.
Cirelli — who annually has been in the conversation for the Selke Trophy, given to the top defensive forward (he has finished top five in voting twice) — said his offensive game really started evolving two years ago, when he began studying film of each game with Lightning assistant coach Jeff Halpern.
“No two games are the same,” Cirelli said. “So it’s always nice to kind of watch the prior game on video with him and kind of see, maybe I should have been in this spot as opposed to that spot, where I can have a better chance to get the puck. So it’s helped me a lot in that aspect of working in the (offensive) zone and trying to find those spots.”
Cirelli went into Saturday’s game leading Lightning forwards with six high-danger scoring chances in 5-on-5 play, and he has created a lot of his opportunities in transition. (His five rush attempts led the team.)
He long has been a threat to score on the penalty kill, and he has become more involved on the second power play and in 6-on-5 play, where his work against the wall helped Hagel score a tying goal with seven seconds remaining in regulation in Buffalo.
“That’s probably the gradual turn for him in his career with us,” Cooper said. “And the great thing with Tony, he’s never forgotten the defensive side of things. … When you’re relentless like that and you’re tilting the ice in your favor, eventually they’re going to go in.”
Contact Eduardo A. Encina at eencina@tampabay.com. Follow @EddieintheYard.
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