The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime by a score of 3-2.
The good news is that Steven Stamkos scored one more goal – his 59th this season – and that he has one more game to make it to 60. It was also his 97th point this season as well. It took a while for him to get that goal, too. In the second period alone, he had six shots. But he didn’t get his goal until the third period, putting the team up 2-1 at that point, and he ended the game with 8 shots on goal.
The bad news is that, while the Lightning managed to make it to overtime, they didn’t have a single shot on goal in extra time. Which is really too bad, since they were playing pretty well after the first period. The team, as a whole, had 37 shots on goal in regulation time.
But you can’t exactly score a goal if you’re not going to shoot the puck, which was the problem in OT.
Another unfortunate thing was Brett Connolly putting the puck into his own net. The poor guy. That’s what tied the game up at 2-2 late in the third, leading them to overtime. It looked like he was trying to clear the puck out of Dwayne Roloson’s crease, when it bounced off of his stick and in as he was try to sweep at it.
Despite that, it was a fairly good game for the Lightning. They had a much better time of things than they’d had in Montreal the night before. Their energy was better, and they got more shots on goal. And they were pretty disciplined, too, with only two penalties on the night – though, Toronto was apparently penalty-free, as according to the on-ice officials. It was a pretty clean game, but I don’t know if it was quite that clean.
The other Lightning goal was scored by Martin St. Louis, which gave him at least 25 goals in nine straight seasons.
Norfolk Notes: Forward Brandon Segal passed through waivers and has been reassigned to the Admirals. He was on their Clear Day list, so he’s able to play for them in AHL playoffs. Tonight’s game in Norfolk is a 7:30 pm Eastern start. You can listen to the game at 1021TheGame.com.
The Lightning’s next and final game of the season is tomorrow, 7 April, at the Winnipeg Jets. Game time is 7 pm Eastern. The Raw charge game thread will be available at 6:30 pm, so come join us one last time this season, won’t you?
Lightning vs Maple Leafs coverage
Lightning vs Maple Leafs recap
