The Tampa Bay Lightning (26-7-2) knocked off the Vancouver Canucks (16-17-4) 5-2 on Tuesday night in Vancouver.
The Lightning struck first in this game, when Nikita Kucherov scored to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. The Canucks answered less than a minute later, however, when Tyler Motte scored to tie the game 1-1. Cedric Paquette came through with a huge goal, which included Danick Martel's first NHL assist, that gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead.
In the second period Adam Erne scored to give the Bolts a 3-1 lead, but the game got chippier and chipper as the period progressed, with both teams dropping the gloves several times as the period progressed. In the third period Christopher Tanev scored to pull Vancouver within 3-2, but Steven Stamkos came through with a huge goal at the 17:22 mark to push the lead to 4-2. Ondrej Palat added an empty net goal just less than a minute later and the Bolts were able to secure the 5-2 win.
Andrei Vasilesvkiy went 27-for-29 in net for the Lightning to get the win, as the team bounced back from an overtime loss in Winnipeg on Sunday night. Anders Nilsson went 26-for-30 in net taking the loss for the Canucks. The Bolts continue their western Canadian road trip as they head to Calgary to battle the Flames on Thursday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 9 PM and can be heard beginning with pregame coverage at 8:30 PM on News Radio 970 WFLA.