After relying on their power play and empty-net goals to beat Carolina in their first game, the Tampa Bay Lightning scored three even-strength goals on their way to a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26 of 27 shots as the Lightning moved to 2-0 on the season. Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, and Brandon Hagel recorded the goals while Conor Garland had the lone tally for Vancouver as he scored on a third-period power play.
It was a two-assist night for Nick Paul while Point, Hagel, and Cirelli added assists for their first multi-point nights of the season. Ryan McDonagh had an assist for his 100th point as a member of the Lightning.
The Bolts dominated the first period with 13 scoring chances at 5v5. They fell into a rut in the second as Vancouver racked up 15 chances of their own in the middle frame. Much like they did against Carolina, the Bolts finished strong as they held the Canucks to just five scoring chances in the third.
First Period:
19:01 – Jake Guentzel sets up Point in the slot, but Arturs Silovs swallows it up. Victor Hedman’s shot on net hit traffic in front and the puck came down to Jake, who calmly spins and passes it to a wide-open Point. Excellent early chance.
16:05 – Nikita Kucherov is going to score all of the goals. He steals the puck in the offensive zone to start the play and then gets the puck over to Darren Raddysh. Raddysh feeds it back to Kucherov on the far post and it’s in the back of the net. Nikita Kucherov (Darren Raddysh, Brayden Point) 1-0 Lightning
11:41 – An absolutely dominating shift by the second line. Hagel, Paul, and Cirelli spend an inordinate amount of time in the Vancouver zone. They weren’t able to score, but really put the pressure on for an extended amount of time.
10:06 – The Lightning head to the first TV break shorthanded as Conor Sheary is sent off for hooking. So far, it’s been almost all Tampa Bay at 5v5 as Natural Stat Trick has them up 7-3 in scoring chances. They have to kill this one off and get back on the front foot.
6:26 – The penalty was killed with the help of a big shot-block by Luke Glendening. Coach Cooper sent the top line back out and they had some more zone time, but nothing that challenged Silovs.
4:01 – The Lightning are heading to the power play as Aatu Raty heads to the box for interference. Right before that play, JJ Moser makes an excellent play to cut off the shifty Conor Garland trying to drive to the net. Outside of McDonagh and Erik Cernak, Coach Cooper has shuffled the pairings up a little as Raddysh joined Hedman for a few shifts.
:00 – The period ends with the score 1-0 in favor of the Lightning. It feels like they should be up by a little more, but haven’t found the insurance goal just yet. Nick Paul came close on the power play, but he jammed his attempt over the net. Conor Geekie had a golden opportunity from the right circle, but whiffs on his shot. The Lightning finished the period strong after a little lull in play following the Conor Sheary penalty.
Second Period:
15:11 – There is a a little bandwagon hockey as the Lightning scramble in their own zone. JT Miller put his shot off of Vasilevskiy from point blank after a turnover. Then AAtu Raty was in all alone on a breakaway but the puck rolls off his stick. Elias Pettersson shoots from in close as the Canucks are much better to start the second period.
14:42 – Hedman puts his stick into the back of Garland, knocking the Canuck forward to the ice. That’s interference and Vancouver will try to build on their strong 5v5 start to the period.
12:17 – Seemingly out of nowhere, it’s 2-0. After the penalty is killed, Jake Guentzel drives to the goal line, spins back, and leaves it for Brayden Point, and the shot beats Silovs cleanly. The Lightning finally score a goal without Nikita Kucherov. Brayden Point (Jake Guentzel, Ryan McDonagh) 2-0 Lightning
8:19 – It’s TV Timeout Time! The Geekie line had a nice shift, and the rookie looks more comfortable tonight than he did last Friday. He moves well for a big guy, getting to spots much quicker than opponents on the ice think he can.
5:17 – Lightning back on the power play as Tyler Myers decks Mitchell Chaffee. Good timing for the Lightning as the Canucks have driven most of the play this period. Sadly, the Lightning pass the opportunity by as they are unable to capitalize.
32:3 – Vasy snatches a puck out of the air to stop play. The Canucks had their best chance earlier in the sequence as Nick Perbix turned it over behind the net and Conor Garland had a little room on a wraparound. The post made the save and action went back down to the other end where Darren Raddysh’s 91 MPH shot missed. Point also fires one wide from the slot. It wasn’t as clean as the first period, but the Lightning double their lead and take a 2-0 lead into the third period.
Third Period
19:21 – Tony Two Goals! He gets inside Tyler Myers and jams home a feed from Brandon Hagel. Typical Tony tally as he makes it three 5v5 goals on the night for the Lightning. That has to be deflating for the Canucks who were looking to build on their strong second period. Anthony Cirelli (Brandon Hagel, Nick Paul) 3-0 Lightning
17:45 – Cernak to the box for tripping to make it a 4-on-3 for Vancouver. A scuffle in front of Vasy fifteen seconds earlier had led to the four-on-four. Pettersson tries to jam it home, but Vasy pokes it away.
15:46 – Just before the power play expires, Brock Boeser deflects a shot on that trickles to the goal line. Garland swats it over and should get the power play goal. Conor Garland (Brock Boeser, JT Miller) Power Play, 3-1 Lightning
10:00 – Four minutes of frustration. The Lightning had a lengthy power play, as Girgensons was cut with a high stick. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get anything going as they turn over the puck on entry after entry.
8:03 – Mikey Eyssimont score a normal goal challenge! Eyssimont jams a puck home, but did he push the pads over the line. Vancouver challenges.
8:03 – No goal! It does look like Eyssimont’s stick pushed Silovs’ pads over the line. Even without the goal, that line’s shift was excellent, as it didn’t allow Vancouver to build on its momentum from the penalty kill.
5:49 – Brandon Hagel feeds a pass to Nick Paul on a two-on-one and Paul almost picks the corner over Silovs’ glove, but the puck goes wide. That would have slammed the door on this game.
2:24 – Kucherov is taken out along the boards by Carsen Soucy and isn’t happy about it. He finishes his shift as the Canucks pull Silovs for the extra skater.
1:46 – Brandon Hagel with the empty-netter. Nice team effort to get the puck out, and Nick Paul slid it to a wide open Hagel in the middle of the ice. Brandon Hagel (Nick Paul, Anthony Cirelli) Empty Net, 4-1 Lightning
34:8 – Geekie drives the net with a nice move. He hits Myers with a crosscheck and then eats a high-stick from Myers. It will be a four-minute penalty for the big defenseman.
0:00 – That’s a win! Another 4-1 victory is in the books. The Bolts started strong, struggled a bit, but then finished strong.
Pregame!
The lines from the morning skate remain in place for the warm-ups. Mikey Eyssimont is set to make his season debut. Cam Atkinson and Emil Lilleberg are your healthy scratches.
Tyler Myers is in for Vancouver.
Lines at the Morning Skate:
Tampa Bay Lightning:
Some pregame thoughts:
Coach Cooper confirmed that the Bolts are going 12/6 tonight and there is a good chance that Mikey Eyssimont makes his season debut. Coop didn’t confirm that he’ll be in the line-up, answering the direct question with a cheeky, “You’ll have to show up to find out!”
If this line-up holds for the game, Conor Sheary makes his season debut with Cam Atkinson as the healthy scratch. Wouldn’t mind seeing Chaffee switch spots with Sheary to really get that third line going. Chaffee had a couple of solid moments in the first game.
There are a lot of games over the next two weeks, so I expect Coach Cooper to keep rotating out his defense. Feel like we’ll see Raddysh in Stamkos’ spot on the power play. When you have a player that can fire a puck at 100+ MPH, putting him in that spot is a good idea.
Vancouver Canucks:
That was from practice on Monday. No update on anything more concrete other than Arturs Silovs will get the start in net. Tyler Myers is a game-time decision on defense and it looks like young forward Arshdeep Bains will get a crack at the top line with Brock Boeser and old friend JT Miller.
Notes from the Lightning
- The Lightning are 20-18-5 all-time against Vancouver, going 12-8-2 at home.
- Which Lightning player has the most points in a single game against the Canucks? Well, there are two – Brayden Point recorded 1 goal and 3 assists against them in January of 2020. That matched Stephane Richer’s (The Undertaker!) 2 goals, 2 assists that he put up on March 18th of 1998.
- Zemgus Girgensons sits at 99 career assists. Get that man on the ice with an empty net!
- Vasilevskiy 300 wins watch sits at 294.
- Anthony Cirelli 100 goals watch is at 97. Tony Three Goals tonight?