The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 Monday night in Tampa.
So far, the Lightning are having difficulty adjusting to life without Anton Stralman on the blue line. After giving up five goals while otherwise playing pretty well against the Florida Panthers Saturday and coming away with a loss, the Lightning followed up with a less stellar outing tonight against Toronto… and are rewarded with a 3-0 win and another crucial two points in the standings, finding themselves on top of the Atlantic Division again (tied with the Panthers). This time, the Bolts had the difference-making goalie behind them, as Ben Bishop picked up his 6th shutout this season.
The Maple Leafs had about a dozen excellent scoring opportunities and outshot the Lightning 34-18 on the night but Bishop was incredible. Toronto also squandered seven power play opportunities on the night.
Mike Blunden scored the opening, and eventual game-winning goal at 7:34 of the first, getting assistance from Erik Condra and Victor Hedman.
Ondrej Palat scored at 14:29 with assists from Steven Stamkos and Jason Garrison.
Hedman closed out the scoring at 6:38 of the second. Stamkos and Condra chipped in with the assists.
The Lightning will be in action again Thursday when they host the Montreal Canadiens.
Game notes:
- Stamkos has a six-game points-scored streak.x
- Valtteri Filppula returned to the lineup tonight.
- Joel Vermin was sent back to Syracuse immediately after the game.
- The Lightning honored Michael Ferrone as the 39th Lightning Community Hero of the 2015-16 season during the first period of tonight’s game. Ferrone, who received a $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program, will donate the money to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay and Joshua’s House. Tonight’s community hero has set a positive example for young adults in the Tampa Bay area. Ferrone is a Big Brother for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, an organization that offers children one-on-one relationships with volunteer mentors in order for them to reach their full potential. In fact, he has mentored Little Brother Tavoris for three years as they routinely conduct public speaking initiatives on behalf of the organization. Also, he has also played a big role as a volunteer at Joshua’s House, an organization that provides a safe haven to children that have experienced abuse and neglect. Ferrone hopes that helping children like Tavoris will create a chain reaction for others to give back to the community. Ferrone becomes the 218th Lightning Community Hero since Jeff and Penny Vinik introduced the program in 2011-12 with a $10 million, five-season commitment to the Tampa Bay community. Through this evening’s game, in total, the Lightning Foundation has granted $11.05 million to more than 300 different non-profits in the Greater Tampa Bay area./
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