Colton Scores A Pair As Bolts Beat Blackhawks 5-2

@jayRecher

Ross Colton scored a pair of goals & Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves for his 35th win of the season as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Friday night at Amalie Arena.

The first of Colton's two goals were an example of grit and determination. The second, a thing of beauty.

The score was tied 2-2 at 6:12 of the 2nd when Colton found a rebound of an Erik Cernak shot & snapped it past Blackhawks goalie Kevin Lankinen to give Tampa Bay the lead.

Just over four minutes later, a play you will surely see on SportsCenter tonight.

With Tampa Bay flying into the Chicago zone, Cal Foote fed the puck ahead to Nick Paul on the right wing and he spun and passed the puck between his legs to the front of the net & Colton jammed it home for his second of the night. The crowd at Amalie went nuts after the cool & the subsequent replay.

The Lightning came out of the gates firing on all cylinders.

Stamkos scored his 31st of the year at 6:11 & Point picked up goal #26 at 10:12, five seconds after Tampa Bay's second power play of the evening expired.

It looked like the Bolts were headed for a blowout, but the Blackhawks responded in a big way.

Chicago defenseman Calvin de Haan threw a seemingly harmless point shot on net that found its way past Vasilevskiy at 12:11 and then DeBrincat scored a power play goal at 17:21 to tie things up at 2-2.

Shots after one were 19-9 in favor of Tampa Bay and by the end of the night, it was

Lankinen, who faced a barrage of scoring opportunities all night long, made 38 saves on the night for Chicago.

Brandon Hagel, in his first game against his former club, scored an empty net goal with 18.4 second left to seal the deal for Tampa Bay.

JOHNNY BE GOOD : In his first game at Amalie Arena since being traded to the Blackhawks in the offseason, Tyler Johnson received an incredible video package & ovation during the first TV timeout. Check out the video BELOW.

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SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

1. Tampa Bay - Stamkos - (Point, Kucherov) - 6:11
2. Tampa Bay - Point - (Kucherov, Stamkos) - 10:12
3. Chicago - de Haan - (Dach) - 12:11
4. Chicago - PPG - DeBrincat - (Jones, Strome) - 17:21

2nd Period

1. Tampa Bay - Colton - (Cernak, Paul) - 6:12
2. Tampa Bay - Colton - (Paul, Foote) - 12:15

3rd Period

1. Tampa Bay - ENG - Hagel - (Colton, Hedman) - 19:41

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PENALTY SUMMARY

1st Period

1. Chicago - TEAM - (Too Many Men) - 2:04
2. Tampa Bay - Hagel - (Tripping) - 7:15
3. Chicago - DeBrincat - (Hooking) - 8:07
4. Tampa Bay - Foote - (Tripping) - 15:13

2nd Period

1. Tampa Bay - Bogosian - (High Sticking) - 2:29
2. Tampa Bay - Cirelli - (Hooking) - 6:32

3rd Period

NONE

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What's Next For The Bolts : The Lightning are back in action tomorrow night as they host the Montreal Canadiens at Amalie Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7:00pm with the pregame show starting at 6:00pm on NewsRadio WFLA & Lightning Power Play on the iHeartRadio app.

PHOTO : Getty Images