Pregame ceremonies are always favorites for fans. The same can’t always be said for players and coaches. The emotions and delayed start can cause a team to start off sluggish. That didn’t happen to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. Vincent Lecavalier became the 2nd Bolt to have his jersey retired before the game and the Lightning played like his speech inspired them. Steven Stamkos got things going just over a minute into the game. The Los Angeles Kings answered quickly, but the Bolts kept at it. Thanks to an all-time great save by Andrei Vasilevskiy and an Alex Killorn goal, Tampa Bay entered the 2nd period with the lead. The 2nd period was chippy, but that was the period where the Lightning pulled away. The Kings fought back hard in the 3rd period, but the Lightning were able to do just enough to hold onto the 4-3 victory.
The game got started about an hour later than scheduled because of the Vinny Lecavalier ceremony. That didn’t deter the Bolts at all. They were ready from the opening whistle and were awarded just over a minute in. Steven Stamkos netted his 21st goal of the season to put the Kings behind the 8 ball before they could even blink. The Lightning dominated the 1st few minutes, but the Kings took advantage of the 1st chance they got. Jonny Brodzinski sent a 1-timer past Vasilevskiy on the 1st shot on goal of the evening for Los Angeles to tie the game at 1 goal a piece. The Kings got the 1st power play opportunity of the night and Anze Kopitar had a golden chance to tie the game, but Andrei Vasilevskiy said no way. Vasy made one of the best saves of the year by stretching his glove hand all the way across his back to keep the game tied. That energized the building and the offense. Alex Killorn got in alone and blasted the puck past Darcy Kuemper to reclaim the lead.
The Lightning struck early in the 2nd as well. This time it was Cedric Paquette who got it past Kuemper. Paquette’s 2nd goal of the year caused John Stevens to pull Kuemper and replace him with Jonathan Quick. That’s when things started to get chippy. Cory Conacher pushed a Kings’ defender into Quick and the Los Angeles goaltender was none to happy. Quick leveled some haymakers at Conacher as the players were on the ground. It didn’t stop there. Mikhail Sergachev and Yanni Gourde both found themselves in separate scrums in the ensuing minutes. Dustin Brown then made a very dirty play on Sergachev and was ejected for it. On that penalty, Nikita Kucherov started a new streak by scoring a goal for his 2nd straight game.
The Kings came out in the 3rd period determined to get themselves back in the game. Their captain came through and did just that. Kyle Clifford scored when he deflected an Anze Kopitar shot just over 3 minutes into the period to make it a manageable 2-goal deficit. The Kings got a chance to make things even tighter when Sergachev got sent to the box for boarding moments later. The Lightning successfully killed off that penalty and 1 more to thwart any hopes of a Los Angeles comeback for the time being. That momentum the Bolts had created didn’t carry over after the penalty kill. Shortly after their power play ended, Christian Folin scored to make it just a 1-goal game with almost 7 minutes left. After that goal the Lightning buckled down and held on by the skin of their teeth for the 4-3 victory.
The Bolts will now head back out on the road. On Monday night Tampa Bay will be north of the border to face the Toronto Maple Leafs. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 pm with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 on News Radio 970 WFLA.
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
1. TBL - Stamkos - (Gourde, Johnson) - 1:05
2. LAK - Brodzinski - (Andreoff, Shore) - 5:02
3. TBL - Killorn - (Stamkos, Coburn) - 9:45
2ND PERIOD
1. TBL - Paquette - (Callahan) - 3:12
2. TBL - PPG - Kucherov - (Hedman) 14:43
3RD PERIOD
1. LAK - Clifford - (Kopitar, Forbort) - 3:18
2. LAK - Folin - (Andreoff, Shore) - 13:05
PENALTY SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
1. TBL - Killorn - (Interference) - 7:38
2ND PERIOD
1. LAK - Gaborik - (Hooking) - 5:08
2. TBL - Conacher - (Roughing) - 10:22
3. LAK - Quick - (Roughing) - 10:22
4. LAK - Toffoli - (Cross Checking) - 12:28
5. LAK - Brown - (Kneeing) - 14:30
6. LAK - Brown - (Game Misconduct) - 14:30
3RD PERIOD
1. TBL - Sergachev - (Boarding) - 6:34
2. TBL - Conacher - (Slashing) - 10:32
SHOTS ON GOAL
Tampa Bay - 28
Los Angeles - 47