BOLTS OF LIGHTNING

Great segment for Tampa Bay going 3-0 and capturing all 6 possible points. Here’s how that played out last week for the Blue & Black.

GAME REVIEW

GAME 54 SENATORS 1 LIGHTNING 5

Tampa Bay broke away from a 1-1 tie, scoring the last four goals to defeat Ottawa Thursday at Amalie Arena 5-1. The Bolts improved to 29-20-4 and that added up to 62 points. The Sens slipped to 29-22-4 for 62 points as well.

The Lightning registered the initial goal of the contest on a power play at 9:23 of the first period. F Jake Guentzel (27) recorded the goal with F Brayden Point (26) and F Nikita Kucherov (53) getting the helpers. Both teams went to the locker room at the first intermission with Tampa Bay up 1 zip.

The Senators evened the score at 1 all 5:27 of the middle period. The Bolts retook the lead at 10:14 of the second stanza with F Brandon Hagel (24) lighting the lamp with D Ryan McDonagh (14) and G Andrei Vasilevskiy (2) getting credit for the assists making the count 2-1 in favor of the home team after 40 minutes of play.

The third period was all Lightning.  Point (29) started the scoring onslaught at 15:44 with Kucherov (54) and F Gage Goncalves (4) providing the help. Tampa Bay made it 4-1 with an empty net marker at 19:08. D Erik Cernak (1) recorded his first goal of the campaign with Point (27) receiving the only assist.

The Lightning made the final score 5-1 with just 26 ticks left in regulation. F Mitchell Chaffee (10) put the biscuit in the basket with F Luke Glendening (3) and D Darren Raddysh (20) being credited with the assists.

Vasilevskiy (25-15-3) earned the victory stopping 27 of 28 shots on goal.

GAME 55 LIGHTNING 5 RED WINGS 3

Tampa Bay posted 4 first period markers then held on for a 6-3 victory over Detroit on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena. The Bolts advanced to 30-20-4 and that equates to 64 points. The Red Wings fell to 28-22-5 for 61 points.

The Bolts recorded two quick goals in the opening period. At 1:28 Hagel (25) opened the scoring with Kucherov (55) and Cernak (12) registering the assists. The Lightning made it 2-nil at 2:56. Cernak (2) dented the scoreboard with Kucherov (56) and McDonagh (15) posting the helpers.

Detroit cut the lead in half at 9:47 but Tampa Bay notched the next two markers. Point (30) buried the puck into the back of the net at 11:49 with Goncalves (5) and Hagel (33) credited with the assists. The Bolts made it 4-1 at 15:13 with F Nick Paul (15) lighting the lamp with Hagel (34) and Cernak (13) providing the helpers.

The Red Wings put up a power play goal at 16:54. That made the count 4-2 after 20 minutes of play.

Detroit scored a middle period goal to cut the margin to 4-3 at 14:29 but that’s the closest the home team would get. The Bolts recorded two third period scores to make the final count 6-3 in favor of the Blue & Black. F Dylan Duke (1) dented the scoreboard in his NHL debut with Chaffee (5) and D Nick Perbix (10) getting the helpers. The final goal of the contest was an empty netter with Hagel (26) finding the open net with Kucherov (57) and McDonagh (16) providing the final assists of the afternoon.

The Big Cat (24-15-3) made 34 saves on 37 shots to claim the victory.

GAME 56 LIGHTNING 5 CANADIENS 3

For the second straight game Tampa Bay got off to a fast start then saw their lead almost disappear but had enough left at the end to register a 5-3 triumph over Montreal at the Bell Center on Sunday. The Bolts moved to 31-20-4 and that totaled 66 points. The Habs dropped to 25-26-5 giving them 55 points.

Another fast start for the Lightning with the visitors taking a 2-0 lead in the first stanza.  Paul (16) scored the opener at 6:56 with Hagel (35) getting the only assist. D Victor Hedman (8) got the second marker at 10:28 with Goncalves (6) and F Anthony Cirelli (22) getting the helpers.

The Canadiens recorded a power play goal at 18:53. That made the count 2-1 after 20 minutes of play.

The Blue & Black registered another couple quick markers in the middle period. Point (31) put the biscuit in the basket with the man advantage at 1:05 with Guentzel (26) and Hedman (36) getting credit for the assists. Tampa Bay made it 4-1 at 6:43 with F Zemgus Girgensons (1) posted his first goal of the season with F Cam Atkinson (4) and F Mikey Eyssimont (4) providing the helpers.

Montreal trimmed into the lead at 12:45. That made the arithmetic 4-2 after two periods of play.

The Habs made it a one goal contest at 9:19 but the Bolts salted it away with an empty net marker at 19:44. Cirelli (20) put the rubber disk over the line with Guentzel (27) and Hagel (36) getting the final assists of the matinee encounter.

#86 (25-15-3) garnered the win turning away 32 of 35 shots on goal.

ANALYSIS

*Vasilevskiy recorded his second point of the season with an assist on the Bolts second goal of the contest.

**Duke became the 10th player in Lightning history to record a goal during their NHL debut.

***Tampa Bay is 5-0-1 over the last six tilts for 11 points.

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