Sometimes, as fans, we get a little too caught up in the final outcome of individual games and forget that sports are entertainment. The Lightning ended up on the wrong side of a 4-3 score on Monday night as Jared McCann blasted home a power play goal in overtime for the Seattle Kraken. Don’t let the loss take away from a game that entertained pretty much from start to finish.
After three days off the Lightning did come out with early pressure, but some bad coverage in their own zone led to an easy rebound goal for Brian Dumoulin that opened a flurry of scoring over the next two minutes. Just a minute later, old friend Yanni Gourde doubled the lead when he was left alone down the slot. Once again, a former player scores against the Lightning.
Tanner Jeannot quickly answered the Gourde goal as he backhanded home a rebound goal 29 seconds after Gourde’s goal. The scoring rush wasn’t done as Kailer Yamamoto banged home a rebound on the power play to make it 3-1. Not only did it double the lead, it was the first power play goal the Lightning had conceded since the season opener against Nashville.
It was a tough first period for the Lightning as they had trouble containing a Seattle offense that had struggled to put the puck in the net early in the season. Jonas Johansson may have had three pucks get behind him in the opening 20 minutes, but he had a stellar period as he faced 20 shots and 7 high-danger chances, including a 2-on-0 rush after a Lightning turnover in the offensive zone.
The team righted the ship a bit in the second as Alex Barre-Boulet scored his third goal in four games, this one on the power play, to trim the deficit to one goal. Seattle was still pressing as they added another six high-danger chances and 13 more shots, all knocked aside by Johansson, who finished the night with 40 saves.
Seattle, despite being at the end of the road trip, didn’t sit back to start the third period and managed to generate a few more chances. However, the Lightning had their best period of the night, eventually equalizing the game when Brandon Hagel threw a puck toward the net that hit Vince Dunn’s leg then the inside pad of Philippe Grubauer before trickling across the goal line.
The Bolts, who ended up with 12 scoring chances in the third period, came close to ending it in regulation as Jeannot spun on his backhand and tried to slide it into a fairly wide open net. Unfortunately, the puck rolled just a bit on him and it caught the left post before Grubauer managed to flop on it.
In overtime, it was another 3-on-3 session where Tampa Bay struggled to gain possession of the puck. Perhaps they are indeed, “cursed”, as Brandon Hagel put it in overtime. Luke Glendening, who had been at 50% on face-offs on the night, lost the opening draw and Seattle spent most of the time with the puck.
There was one rush by the Lightning and they almost won the game as Mikhail Sergachev sent a long pass to Brayden Point who sent a puck to a the far post and a streaking Nikita Kucherov. Kuch, who had 10 shot attempts in the game, caught a piece of it, but not enough to keep it from hitting the post.
Nick Paul was called for hooking a short time later and McCann ended things by blasting a one-timer past Johansson for the win. For the record, Grubauer, who had 33 saves, didn’t get credited for a stop on two of the biggest plays at the end of the game as the left post behind him was responsible for keeping the puck out.
It wasn’t the outcome the Lightning wanted, but they do end up picking up points in all five games of their home stand. The game did not lack for action as the two teams combined for 150 shot attempts, 80 shots on net, 71 scoring chances, and 36 high-danger chances. While those are the types of nights that drive coaches crazy, it did make for some entertaining viewing.
Tampa Bay will look for their first win on the road as they head to Columbus on Thursday.
The Lines
The Goals
Brian Dumoulin (Justin Schultz, Jaden Schwartz) 1-0 Kraken
Yanni Gourde (Kailer Yamamoto) 2-0 Kraken
Tanner Jeannot (Hayden Fleury, Darren Raddysh) 2-1 Kraken
Kailer Yamamoto (Jaden Schwartz, Eeli Tolvanen) Power Play, 3-1 Kraken
Alex Barre-Boulet (Brandon Hagel, Tanner Jeannot) Power Play, 3-2 Kraken
Brandon Hagel (Anthony Cirelli, Alex Barre-Boulet) 3-3
Jared McCann (Vince Dunn, Oliver Bjorkstrand) Power Play, 4-3 Kraken
