Good teams respond to tough losses. The Tampa Bay Lightning did that on Monday night. The Bolts lost their 1st home game of the season to Anaheim on Saturday, but came out firing in Fort Lauderdale on Monday. Tampa Bay had a 2-0 lead less than 5 minutes into the game. Florida put up a fight though and after trailing by 2 twice they tied the game at 3 early in the 2nd. The Bolts didn’t like not leading. Tampa Bay fired off 3 unanswered to take a 6-3 lead. The line of Brayden Point, Yanni Gourde, and Ondrej Palat was Tampa Bay’s best. All 3 scored in the 8-5 victory. Steven Stamkos also added 2 goals of his own to get to his league leading 24 point mark in the 1st month of the season.
It’s hard to get off to a better start than what the Tampa Bay Lightning did on Monday night. The Bolts had a multi-goal lead before the Panthers could even blink. Brayden Point got Tampa Bay on the board less than 3 minutes in with assists from 2 defensemen. Shortly after, it was time for the Bolts’ leading goal scorer to go to work. Nikita Kucherov did it all by himself and his 13th goal of the year gave the Bolts that multi-goal lead less than 5 minutes into the game. The 2nd half of the frame got off to a better start for Florida. Aaron Ekblad shot from an angle and was able to slip the puck past Vasilevskiy to cut the differential to a single goal. It looked like Point would have his 2nd goal just moments later, but James Reimer made a stellar glove save to prevent Tampa Bay from extending the lead. Tampa Bay got the 1st chance on the power play late in the period and took advantage. Steven Stamkos blasted the puck past Reimer to put the Bolts on top by 2 once again. In the final minute of the period Aleksander Barkov found his way to a loose puck and did his best Stamkos’ impersonation with a blast past Vasilevskiy to cut the lead back to 1 heading to the 2nd.
The Bolts had to kill off a penalty early in the 2nd when Gabriel Dumont was called for hooking. The Lightning had killed off that penalty for all intents and purposes, but 1 second after Dumont exited the box Florida tied it up. Jonathan Huberdeau’s 5th goal of the season drew the Panthers even. Tampa Bay didn’t like not being in front. Point made a great pass and a diving Ondrej Palat got it past Reimer for his 4th goal of the season. Tampa Bay clearly favored the 2-goal lead though. The Bolts improved to 2 for 2 on the power play when Yanni Gourde deflected in a Mikhail Sergachev shot to make it 5-3. That lead wouldn’t sit at 2 though. Vlad Namestnikov continued his success against the Panthers. His 3rd goals in as many games against Florida put Tampa Bay in front by 3.
Florida knew they needed to score early in the 3rd to make this a game and they did just that. Jamie McGinn’s 3rd of the season drew the Panthers within 2 just over 5 minutes into the period. Before the halfway mark of the period was crossed the Bolts put it back out of reach. Stamkos deflected in a Jake Dotchin shot for his 2nd of the night. Florida would cut the lead back to 7-5, but that was as close as they would get. Anton Stralman made it 7 Bolts with a goal when he added an empty-netter in the closing seconds.
The Bolts will be back at Amalie Arena on Thursday after the quick 1-game road trip. It will be a great atmosphere on home ice as Dan Girardi will face his former team in the New York Rangers. The puck is slated to drop shortly after 7:30 pm. Pregame coverage begins an hour prior up the dial on News Radio 970 WFLA. .
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
1. TBL - Point - (Coburn, Girardi) - 2:48
2. TBL - Kucherov - (Unassisted) - 4:55
3. FLA - Ekblad - (Huberdeau, Barkov) - 10:31
4. TBL - PPG - Stamkos - (Hedman, Killorn) - 14:40
5. FLA - Barkov - (Dadonov) - 19:07
2ND PERIOD
1. FLA - Huberdeau - (Barkov, Dadonov) - 5:32
2. TBL - Palat - (Point, Gourde) - 7:17
3. TBL - PPG - Gourde - (Sergachev, Palat) - 9:38
4. TBL - Namestnikov - (Kucherov, Hedman) - 15:41
3RD PERIOD
1.FLA - McGinn - (Bjugstad, Vrbata) - 5:32
2. TBL - Stamkos - (Dotchin, Namestnikov) - 9:02
3. FLA - Dadonov - (Huberdeau, Barkov) - 11:29
4. TBL - Stralman - (Unassisted) - 19:41
PENALTY SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
1. FLA - Ekblad - (Hooking) - 13:14
2. TBL - Killorn - (Slashing) - 16:37
2ND PERIOD
1. TBL - Dumont - (Hooking) - 3:29
2. FLA - Yandle - (Holding) - 7:58
3. TBL - Kunitz - (Interference) - 12:36
4. FLA - Ekblad - (Interference) - 13:36
5. FLA - Hayley - (Fighting) - 16:26
6. TBL - Coburn - (Fighting) - 16:26
3RD PERIOD
1.FLA - McCoshen - (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) - 6:28
2. FLA - Mackenzie - (Slashing) - 13:34
SHOTS ON GOAL
Tampa Bay - 38
Florida - 23