Normally, when a team is outshot 24-14 they aren’t likely to be on the winning side of the scoresheet. It’s even more unlikely that they are on the right side of a blowout. Yet, here we are. The Tampa Bay Lightning scored 8 times on just 14 shots to rout the Carolina Hurricanes 8-2 in Andrei Vasilevskiy’s return to action. Brayden Point had a hat trick and Nikita Kucherov tied a franchise record with 6 points (Doug Crossman is the other one to do it).
The Lightning used their power play to get back into the game, scoring on three consecutive opportunities to open the second period and turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead. They would add one more power play goal in the third period to finish 4-for-5 on the night. Along with Point (3 goals) and Kucherov (2 goals) Steven Stamkos, Luke Glendening, and Brandon Hagel scored goals. Stefan Noesen and Michael Bunting scored for the Canes who were 1-for-6 on the power play.
First Period
The good news is that, for the most part, the Lightning played a fairly structured game in their own zone. There weren’t many turnovers or sustained pressure from the Hurricanes. The bad news was that they had absolutely no real offensive pressure of their own. They were credited with just one shot on seven shot attempts.
Carolina was up their usual antics of clogging up the neutral zone and making sure that a hat was on a hat all over the ice. The Lightning just didn’t have many open passing lanes that allowed them to build momentum and enter the zone. The only real chance came from Nikita Kucherov after a long pass from Brayden Point deflected off a skate. Kucherov spun a wrister wide of Raanta’s net.
In his first period back, Vasilevskiy played well. He was tested on the first shot as Jack Drury deflected a shot from in tight. A quick pad save kept the put out of the net. Other than that, most of the nine shots came from distance. While Carolina may have dominated scoring chances (11 to 2), the Bolts did a fairly good job of keeping the danger away from the goaltender.
With time winding down in the period, Drury was able to make a quick pass between Calvin de Haan’s legs from behind the net. It was right on and off of Stefan Noesen’s stick before Vasy could get out to take the angle away. No one was stopping that shot.
Second Period
While the Lightning may not have been able to generate any offense at 5v5, but they had absolutely no problem getting shots through with an extra skater. They got their first chance just 31 seconds into the period and after giving up a short-handed chance by Jordan Staal that Vasilevskiy gloved away, they converted on their first shot of the period.
It was a quick entrance into the zone that didn’t allow Carolina to set up and Brayden Point made a nice pass to Stamkos in his office. The Captain went off the bar and in to tie up the game. Five seconds after the goal, Jesperi Kotkaniemi was whistled for tripping Anthony Cirelli. It took a little bit longer on this one, but Nikita Kucherov was left all alone in the right circle and Brandon Hagel made an excellent cross-ice pass to set him up for the one-timer. Kuch didn’t miss and after two total shots in the period it was 2-1 Lightning.
Carolina didn’t learn their lesson and Michael Bunting high-sticked Cole Koepke off the face-off for a double minor. This time Kucherov had the puck and Raanta had to hold the post to respect the shot. Instead Kucherov fired a shot-pass to Point at the far post. Credit to Point for knocking down a rapidly moving puck with his skate before tapping it into the net for the 3-1 lead.
With the lead the Lightning managed a little more possession time at even strength, but Carolina is relentless and they ended up building their game back up. Things on the ice were heating up as well as there were a few more slashes and extracurricular activities taking place. With Austin Watson in the box for abuse of the officials, the Hurricanes controlled the puck off of a face-off and it was teed up for Bunting who blasted it past Vasilevskiy to draw Carolina back within one goal.
The Lightning killed off another late power play to head into the final period with the lead. With all of the penalties there was just 10:57 of even-strength time in the period and the Lightning limited Carolina to just 1 scoring chance over those 11 minutes. While the Lightning still struggled to generate a lot of offense, just 3 shots on 8 attempts, they did well to also limit Carolina’s chances.
Third Period
Third periods have not been kind to the Lightning this season. Three times they’ve led going into the final period only to see their leads slip into losses (two in overtime). With Carolina, no lead is ever safe, and a one-goal lead is just a shot away from a tie game.
Luckily, the Lightning turned it into a two-goal lead, then a three-goal lead, then a four-goal lead, then a five-goal lead, and finally a six-goal lead. That’s right they scored five times (on just eight shots) to turn a close game into a rout.
There is no need to list out what happened, just watch the highlights below. Just as important as the offense, was the defense. The ‘Canes did have a couple of power plays when it was still close and the Bolts didn’t allow much as Carolina was credited with just two shots on goal with the extra skater.
There were a few really nice defensive plays among the offensive orgy for the Lightning. After Cernak was stripped of the puck as he attempted to skate the puck out, Mikhail Sergachev knocked down the crossing pass on a two-on-one to snuff out any possible chance for Carolina.
Perhaps the swagger is slowly coming back. Yes, it was just one game, but there is something different about this team when Vasilevskiy (who finished with 22 saves) is between the pipes. They have a couple of days off before a back-to-back against Colorado and Arizona.
The Lines
The Goals
Stefen Noesen (Jack Drury, Michael Bunting) 1-0 Hurricanes
Steven Stamkos (Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov) Power Play, 1-1
Nikita Kucherov (Brandon Hagel, Mikey Eyssimont) Power Play, 2-1 Lightning
Brayden Point (Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman) Power Play, 3-1 Lightning
Michael Bunting (Andrei Svechnikov, Jesperi Kotkaniemi) Power Play, 3-2 Lightning
Luke Gendening (unassisted) 5-2 Lightning
Brayden Point (Nick Perbix, Cole Koepke) 6-2 Lightning
Nikita Kucherov (Brandon Hagel, Mikhail Sergachev) 7-2 Lightning
Brayden Point (Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos) Power Play, 8-2 Lightning
