BOLTS OF LIGHTNING 

Tampa Bay posted a respectable 2-1 log for this segment recording four out of a possible six points. Check out how the Lightning accomplished this feat.

GAME REVIEW

GAME 30 BLUES 1 LIGHTNING 3

Tampa Bay notched their fourth consecutive win with a 3-1 triumph Thursday over St. Louis at Amalie Arena. The Bolts advanced to 18-10-2 for 38 points. The Blues slipped to 15-16-3 and that adds up to 33 points.

The Lightning opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period at 5:14. F Anthony Cirelli (13) put the biscuit in the basket with F Conor Geekie (5) and F Brandon Hagel (22) being credited with the assists.

Tampa Bay made the arithmetic 2-zip early in the second stanza. D Nick Perbix (4) put the puck in the back of the net at 3:42 with F Nikita Kucherov (34) and F Brayden Point (17) getting the helpers.

The Blues cut the lead in half at 12:15 but the Bolts answered that with a marker of their own 78 seconds later. F Gage Goncalves (1) recorded his first career NHL goal at 13:33 with Kucherov (35) registering the lone assist and that lead to the replacement of St. Louis G Jordan Binnington. Tampa Bay took a 3-1 lead to the locker room at the second intermission.

Both netminders were the show in the final 20 minutes. Bolts G Andrei Vasilevskiy and Blues G Joel Hofer posted clean sheets for the third period and the Lightning captured a 3-1 victory.

#88 (15-9-1) earned the win turning away 31 of 32 shots on goal.

GAME 31 PANTHERS 4 LIGHTNING 2

Special teams were the undoing of the home team as Tampa Bay fell 4-2 to Florida Sunday at Amalie Arena. The Cats improved to 22-11-2 and that equates to 46 points. The Bolts fell to 18-11-2 and that totals 38 points.

The Panthers posted the first score of the contest at 15:51 of the opening period with a power play marker. The Lightning responded with just 5 ticks left in the first stanza.  F Nick Paul (8) was parked just to the right of the crease and was served up a perfect cross ice pass from just outside the left circle by D Victor Hedman (22) with D Darren Raddysh (9) recording the other assist when #20 made no mistake and knotted to tilt at 1-1 after 20 minutes of play.

Florida retook the lead at 10:28 of the middle period this time with a shorthanded goal. The Panthers followed that up with another shortie just 42 seconds later to take a 3-1 lead.

The Bolts cut the advantage to 3-2 early in the final period. Raddysh (10) found F Jake Guentzel (16) with a clearing pass in the neutral zone and #59 immediately went cross ice sending Point (22) in on a breakaway and #21 found the back of the net at 3:26.

The Cats concluded the scoring at 19:29 with an empty netter. That made the final count 4-2 in favor of the visitors from South Florida.

The Big Cat (15-10-1) took the loss stopping 22 of 25 shots.

GAME 32 LIGHTNING 4 PANTHERS 0

Tampa Bay bounced back after the defeat of the day before and beat Florida

4-0 Monday at Amarant Bank Arena in Sunrise. The Bolts advanced to 19-11-2 and that computes to 40 points. The Cats stumbled to 22-12-2 adding up to 46 points.

The Lightning exploded for three markers in the opening 20 minutes of play starting with Kucherov (15) lighting the lamp with Hedman (23) and Cirelli (16) recording the assists at 6:56. Tampa Bay increased the lead to 2-nil at 9:20 with Guentzel (19) getting the goal and Hagel (23) and Hedman (24) being credited with the helpers. The Bolts final goal of the first period was of the power play variety with F Mitchell Chaffee (7) finding the back of the net with assists going to Cirelli (17) and Paul (11) at 16:24 to send both teams to the first intermission with the visitors holding a 3-zip advantage.

After a scoreless middle period, the Lightning posted the final marker of the evening. Hagel (16) recorded an empty net goal at 14:18 with the only assist going to Cirelli (8) to make the final arithmetic 4-0 in favor of the Bolts.

G Jonas Johansson (4-1-1) stopped all 36 shots in recording the shutout.

ANALYSIS

* Lightning surrendered two shorthanded markers. Ties Tampa Bay with Florida and Calgary for the most shorties in the NHL this season with 5.

** Backup netminder Johansson is now on a three-game winning streak with a .902 save percentage and 3.25 goals against average.

*** Kucherov has now reached 50 points on the 2024-25 campaign with 15 goals and 35 assists.

Book it Dano!