@jayRecher
Andrei Vasilevskiy stood tall during a frantic 3rd period and five different players scored as the Lightning defeated the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 on Saturday afternoon to push their winning streak to 10 games.
Tampa Bay went up 4-1 in the 3rd after a goal by Brayden Point at the 12:34 mark, but Philadelphia just would not give up.
James van Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux scored 44 seconds apart to put a scare into the Amalie Arena faithful, but an empty net goal for Nikita Kucherov with 21.6 seconds left sealed the deal for the Bolts.
The game started off on a high note as Kucherov, Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli all returned after missing time with lower-body injuries.
No shots on goal for either team through the first three-plus minutes of game action, but when the Lightning finally registered one, it found the back of the net.
Alex Killorn was down low approaching the Flyers net and after his centering pass was blocked, the puck bounced right back to him and he banked one in off of Philadelphia goalie Carter Hart to make it 1-0 just 3:17 into the game.
Tampa Bay controlled the majority of play for the rest of the 1st, and even doubled the lead with just over five minutes left in the period.
Tyler Johnson threaded a sweet pass into the slot for Cedric Paquette and Ceddy buried it past Hart to put the Lightning ahead 2-0 at the 5:05 mark of the opening stanza.
The Bolts made it 3-0 at the 2:35 mark of the second period after Verhaeghe snapped one by Hart after a beautiful pass by Victor Hedman.
Philly got one back on a power play goal by Ivan Provorov at the 8:55 mark after Kucherov went off for a questionable hooking call.
Vasilevskiy stopped 30 of the 33 shots thrown his way. Hart had 19 saves on 23 shots.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
- Tampa Bay - Killorn - (Shattenkirk, Sergachev) - 3:17
- Tampa Bay - Paquette - (Johnson, Maroon) - 14:55
2nd Period
- Tampa Bay - Verhaeghe - (Hedman, Gourde) - 2:35
- Philadelphia - PPG - Provorov - (Giroux, Couturier) - 8:57
3rd Period
- Tampa Bay - Point - (Stamkos, Kucherov) - 12:34
- Philadelphia - PPG - van Riemsdyk - (Niskanen, Sanheim) - 15:31
- Philadelphia - Giroux - (Provorov, Konecny) - 16:15
- Tampa Bay - ENG - Kucherov - (Stamkos, Hedman) - 19:38
PENALTY SUMMARY
1st Period
- Tampa Bay - Stephens - (Cross Checking) - 5:37
- Philadelphia - Provorov - (Hooking) - 7:53
2nd Period
- Tampa Bay - Kucherov - (Hooking) - 7:53
- Philadelphia - Raffl - (Elbowing) - 10:36
- Philadelphia - Gourde - (Interference) - 13:09
- Philadelphia - Giroux - (Hooking) - 13:51
- Philadelphia - Konecny - (Roughing) - 13:51
- Tampa Bay - Stamkos - (Roughing) - 13:51
- Philadelphia - Konecny - (Roughing) - 17:12
- Philadelphia - Voracek - (Roughing) - 20:00
- Tampa Bay - Coburn - (Roughing) - 20:00
- Tampa Bay - Cernak - (10 Minute Misconduct) - 20:00
3rd Period
- Philadelphia - Provorov - (Boarding) - 0:46
- Tampa Bay - Coburn - (Holding) - 5:01
- Tampa Bay - Stephens - (Hooking) - 14:00
What's Next For The Bolts : The Lightning are back in action Monday night as they travel to Colorado to take on the Avalanche. Puck drop is slated for 9:00pm with the pregame show starting at 8:30pm up the dial on our sister station NewsRadio WFLA.
PHOTO : Getty Images