@jayRecher
Just call him Yanni Be Good.
After going 35 games without a goal, the Lightning's spark plug Yanni Gourde scored for the second straight game as the Bolts defeated the visiting Edmonton Oilers 3-1 on Thursday night at Amalie Arena.
With Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Anthony Cirelli all out with lower-body injuries, Tampa Bay needed their other forwards to step up.
And that's exactly what they did.
Patrick Maroon got the scoring going when he banked a shot off of Oilers goalie Mike Smith and in at the 4:39 mark of the 2nd period to put the good guys up 1-0.
Edmonton's Caleb Jones tied it up just under five minutes later, but Yanni came up big to put the Lightning back out in front.
After a too many men on the ice penalty to Tampa Bay, Gourde picked up an Oilers turnover at the Lightning blue line and came in all alone on Smith. Yanni fired one over the blocker of the Edmonton netminder and the Bolts re-took the lead.
Neither team scored in the 1st period, but the Lightning controlled the majority of the play outshooting the Oilers 14-8.
Brayden Point had an easy empty net goal with just under a minute of play, but he unselfishly dished it to Paquette to give Cedric the opportunity to seal the deal for Tampa Bay.
Oh Hey Cam : What a night for Cameron Gaunce! Aside from making his season debut, Gaunce played wing AND picked up an assist on the Maroon goal.
CORING SUMMARY
1st Period
- NONE
2nd Period
- Tampa Bay - Maroon - (Gaunce, Schenn) - 4:39
- Edmonton - Jones - (Unassisted) - 9:36
- Tampa Bay - SHG - Gourde - (Unassisted) - 13:01
3rd Period
- Tampa Bay - ENG - Paquette - (Point, Killorn) - 19:04
PENALTY SUMMARY
1st Period
- NONE
2nd Period
- Tampa Bay - Paquette - (Hooking) - 1:18
- Tampa Bay - TEAM - (Too Many Men) - 11:44
3rd Period
- NONE
What's Next For The Bolts : The Lightning are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they welcome the Philadelphia Flyers to Amalie Arena. Puck drop is slated for 4:00pm with the pregame show starting at 3:00pm up the dial on our sister station NewsRadio WFLA.
PHOTO : Getty Images