Dana Tyrell’s beard will have a chance to continue blossoming, as his Tampa Bay Lightning shutout the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0 in game seven of the first-round Eastern Conference playoff matchup, April 28.
The first-round win marks the first time Tampa Bay has won a playoff series since its Stanley Cup run in 2004 and the first time an Airdrie-born NHL player will advance this deep into the postseason.
“It’s a big step for us and shows a lot about our team and how hard we work,” Tyrell said before game one of the second round series against the Washington Capitals, April 29. “It’s amazing. We’ve got a lot of new faces and a lot of new people here on our team this year and we had a lot to prove. I don’t think a lot of people expected us to win the series over Pittsburgh.”
Tampa Bay was down three games to one, but rallied with three straight wins. Tyrell averaged 8:30 of ice time in games one through four, but was injured at practice on April 22 and had to watch the final three games.
“It’s tough. I have a lower body injury that happened last Friday. I’m taking it day by day and I doubt I’ll be able to play at the start of the Washington series. Hopefully, in a week or two, I can back out there with them. You want to win so bad and you want to be it out there, but I’m giving them lots of support,” he said.
“It was a little bit frustrating down 3-1, but we had lots of stories from (Dwayne) Roloson and (Simon) Gagne, who told us they had been in lots of series down 3-1 and came back to win. We knew we were facing elimination every game, and had nothing to lose, and ended up playing great.”
Tyrell, who had 15 points in 78 regular season games during his rookie campaign, said the series shifted when the veteran Lightning players stepped up.
“We probably only have 10 guys who have had playoff experience, so we had to learn quickly and learn from players like (Martin) St. Louis, (Vincent) Lecavalier, Gagne and Roloson, who have had lots of playoff experience,” he said. “It’s huge and we can learn lots from them. We need those guys to step up and lead our team – and that’s what they’re doing.”
Playing in his first playoff series was nerve racking, he admitted.
“Every shift, every play is huge,” Tyrell said. “It’s pretty hard mentally, but you just have to get ready for it. It’s kind of a different game, as it’s so intense out there, but it’s really fun.”
Tampa Bay had a 2W-4L record against Washington this season, but Tyrell said the Lightning’s defensive style could outmatch the Capitals offence-minded forwards.
“I think we play different styles of game,” he said. “We’ve got to watch out for (Alex) Ovechkin and (Alexander) Semin – they’re dangerous shooters. They’ve got a great power play and their penalty kill has been great. Both teams work really hard, and we both have great goaltending, so it’s going to come down to a special teams game.”
