Where were you on October 11, 2018? If you were in what was then known as Amalie Arena, you would have witnessed the last Vancouver Canucks win in Tampa. Four third-period goals led them to a victory that day, and just over seven years later, another third=period outburst would propel them a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. A night after the Lightning used a strong third period to defeat the Florida Panthers, a three-goal outburst in under two minutes flipped a 2-1 lead into a 4-2 deficit that they couldn’t recover from.
With Brandon Hagel back in the line-up, the Lightning got off to a solid start. After 20 minutes of play, a casual observer would assume that Vancouver was the team that had a tough-fought game the night before. The Lightning absolutely dominated possession of the puck, spending the bulk of play in Vancouver’s zone, while launching 27 shot attempts at Kevin Lankinen. Throughout the entire period there were 12 high-danger chances between the two teams, and they all belonged to the Lightning.
Everyone was getting in on the action, including the surprisingly offensive-minded Jack Finley line as Scott Sabourin had two extremely solid chances that Lankinen, who finished the night with 28 saves, batted aside. Despite the statistical domination, it took almost the entire 20 minutes for the Bolts to put one past the goaltender. It was from a likely source as Nikita Kucherov rifled a one-timer into a narrow slot on the short side with 35 seconds to go in the period.
Nikita Kucherov [8] (Darren Raddysh, Brayden Point) 1-0 Lightning
"What a pass from Raddysh to Kucherov!!!" Kuch nails it from his office! #VANvsTBL 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) November 16, 2025 at 5:55 PM
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The Lightning were dominating the middle third of the ice, cutting off the Canucks’ breakouts and causing turnovers. That allowed them to quickly counterattack and drive back Vancouver’s defenders. It was the type of hunt-and-attack play that generates a lot of chances. The only big problem (especially if someone had bet over 1.5 goals in the first period) is that the Lightning only had one goal on the board. Vancouver was, at the Rolling Stones sang so many years ago, just a shot away from tying the game.
Vancouver came out with a little more offense in the second period (they actually had two shots on goal in the first three minutes), but the Lightning continued to play simple hockey and took advantage of the space the Canucks were giving them. It led to a textbook goal. Erik Cernak let it go from just inside the blueline and Jake Guentzel did what he’s been doing his entire career and found a way to tip the puck past Lankinen.
Jake Guentzel [8] (Erik Cernak, Brandon Hagel) 2-0 Lightning
"Tipped in front!!!" Who else but Guentz? Another deflection goal for Jake! #VANvsTBL 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) November 16, 2025 at 6:34 PM
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There was a key sequence following the goal. The Lightning were pushing again, and Darren Raddysh had the puck as he drove to the net. He had the option to pass it to Gage Goncalves, who was planted in front of the crease, but Raddysh opted to keep the puck himself and got too close to get a good shot off. Shortly after that Brayden Point had the puck in the slot and hesitated just enough to allow a defender to block a shot.
Scott Sabourin would take a penalty shortly after that action, and while Vancouver didn’t score on the ensuing power play, they seemed to pick up a little momentum from it, and the ice wasn’t tilted quite as much as it had been to start the game. Another penalty, this one a hold by J.J. Moser would put Vancouver back on the power play and this time the Lightning couldn’t avoid their fate.
Elias Pettersson absolutely walked Yanni Gourde and took a shot from the slot. Johansson made the initial save, but Jake DeBrusk (son of Louis) was in position to jam home the rebound.
Jake DeBrusk [7] (Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes) Power Play, 2-1 Lightning
(click here for the highlight)
After the game, Coach Jon Cooper credited Vancouver for not stopping despite being outplayed for the majority of the first half of the game. He told the media that they kept going and that his team got a little comfortable with the two-goal lead. Not very good things happen when a team gets comfortable in the NHL.
As of late, “not very good” also describes the Lightning power play. In their first opportunity of the night, against a team that is only killing about 2/3 of the chances against them, the Lightning failed to generate a shot. Their first entry ended with Kucherov skating into three players and losing the puck. It took them a little longer to get back in the zone, but when they did, passes were left wanting or tangled in skates.
Goncalves earned a second opportunity quickly after the first one expired. To their credit, they generated a really, really good chance on a deflection in the crease by Guentzel, but Lankinen was there to make the save. Point also had a shot from between the circles that was denied. Just after the advantage ended, Max Crozier had a good look knocked away.
The Lightning weren’t able to increase the lead, and it would come back to haunt them in the third period. The wheels didn’t just come off of the Lightning wagon; they came off and hurled themselves into spectators. By the time it was over, the Lightning were on the wrong side of the scoreboard just seven minutes into the final frame.
Things started really well as the Point line had a strong shift that ended with Point tipping a shot off of the post. If that goes in maybe the Lightning pull off the win. Maybe if the tip by Hagel or the shot by Guentzel on the next shift go in, things work out different. If’s and buts, candy and nuts, and all of that stuff.
What did happen was that Sabourin tripped up Lankinen and was sent to the box for goaltender interference. On the power play, Erik Cernak was without his stick and unable to cover a slot pass from Brock Boeser. That would have been bad enough, but the pass ticked off of Kiefer Sherwood’s stick, and then J.J. Moser’s skate into the back of the net.
Kiefer Sherwood [12] (Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes) Power Play, 2-2
On their heels and possibly wallowing in disbelief at the game being tied, the Lightning failed to clear the puck and an innocuous shot from the high slot was tipped past Johansson.
Linus Karlsson [2] (Mackenzie MacEachern) 3-2 Vancouver
Why not another tip goal to make it 4-2?
Drew O’Connor [5] (Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek) 4-2 Vancouver
As Coach Cooper said after the game, it wasn’t the fact that they gave up three goals in less than two minutes, it was the play before the goals that was the most disappointing. The turnovers, the inability to clear the zone, the lack of attention to detail in their own zone irked the coach.
It looked like the Lightning had clawed their way back to within one when Charle-Edouard D’Astous fired home a rebound after a long sequence in the Vancouver zone. Unfortunately, Vancouver challenged for a missed stoppage of play and a video review confirmed that the puck was played with a high-stick by Guentzel almost 20 seconds before the goal was scored. Off the board went the goal.
The Canucks would make it 5-2 when MacKenzie MacEachern tipped a point shot off of D’Astous’ leg. Rough couple of shifts for the first-year defenseman.
MacKenzie MacEachern [1] (Filip Hronek, Quinn Hughes) 5-2 Vancouver
Marcus Pettersson made it six goals in a row when he put home an empty-netter with just over three minutes to go in the game.
“We deserved what we got”
That’s how Coach Cooper summed it up after the game, and he wasn’t wrong. Despite a nice statistical edge in the game, the Lightning’s rough stretch to start the third period cost them the game.
The Lightning are back on the ice Tuesday when the New Jersey Devils come to town.
