Perhaps the key for the Lightning’s success down the stretch is to build a big enough lead to overcome any mental breakdowns they have during a game. That seemed to be the case as they scored three times in the first period, weathered a patch of rough play, and then found their game again to cruise to a 6-1 win over the St. Louis Blues. Andrei Vasilevskiy was there to bail them out when they got a little turnover happy as he stopped 29-of-30 shots on the way to his third straight win at home.
Offensively it was Nikita Kucherov scoring twice while Nick Paul added another power play goal. The rest of the scoring came from some unlikely sources as Michael Eyssimont, Tyler Motte, and Haydn Fleury all found the back of the net. Steven Stamkos didn’t score, but he did have three assists and 12 of the Lightning’s skaters recorded points.
First Period:
Now this, this is the Tampa Bay Lightning we expected this season. They came out skating, forechecking, and shooting the puck. Instead of reacting to the other team’s pressure, they were the ones that dictated play and their reward would be an early one-goal lead.
With the lines swizzled around, it was the combination of Tanner Jeannot and Michael Eyssimont (with an assist from Jordan Binnington) that got the Lightning on the board. Haydn Fleury dumped the puck in and Jordan Binnington went to play it, as goaltenders are wont to do, but the bounce off the boards handcuffed him. Jeannot, sensing an opportunity, zipped in and flipped the puck on net. Eyssimont was there to bat it in with his stick. At least, that’s what the officials determined after a 4-minute review.
After the goal, the Lightning kept the pressure on, despite being shorthanded. The penalty was a bit tough, as Mikhail Sergachev was hobbling off the ice after blocking a shot with his ankle, Fleury jumped on a skosh too early and the team was whistled for too-many-men. Still, they weren’t rattled and killed it off fairly easily. They would be down a player for the rest of the game as Sergachev was ruled out with a lower-body injury.
As the period wore on, the shots piled up, but the lead stayed at one. It would have been unfortunate if an unlucky bounce tied things up, so it was nice when the Lightning worked to double their lead. A goal-mouth scramble had Binnington searching for the puck when Tyler Motte dove into the play. His first attempt didn’t work, but he was able to bat it in despite the pile-up in the crease.
The icing on the cake came with 13 seconds left as Nikita Kucherov cut hard to the middle of the ice, let the screen develop in front of the net, and then whistled a wrister past Brayden Point and Nick Paul into the net. A 3-0 lead (all at 5v5, all from different lines) was just what the doctor ordered for this team.
Second Period:
As we all know, second periods have been the Lightning’s kryptonite this season as they entered the night a -8 on the season in the middle frame.They helped that number a bit against St. Louis as they scored twice, but it wasn’t a clean period. After Kucherov scored 96 seconds into the period with another wrister from distance, their focus waned a bit and it was St. Louis building the offense.
A few too many east-to-west passes were picked off that led to odd-men rushes for the Blues and the visitor’s hyper-aggressive penalty kill unit caused quite a ruckus for the Lightning power play. St. Louis had more high-danger chances (3) than the Lightning (2) during the two minutes. However, Andrei Vasilevskiy did his thing and kept them off the scoring board.
So far this season, these were the stretches that had haunted the Lightning. They have been giving up two or three goals during these stretches and it’s left them chasing the game. The good news is that they had a four-goal lead. It also helped that Vasy was being Vasy.
Credit to the players in front of him who did regain the initiative as the period wore on and eventually they chased Binnington from the net when Haydn Fleury took a half-swing slapshot on a rolling puck and put it in the net for his first goal as a member of the Lightning. Joel Hoefer came in relief and stopped all of the shots he faced. Sure, it was only one, but he still stopped it.
Third Period:
The Bolts started off the final frame with a penalty kill as Jeannot had picked up a roughing minor at the end of the second. From there they kept St. Louis to the outside for most of the period, allowing just one high-danger chance at even strength.
One aspect of the game that had kind of struggled on the night was the power play, going 0-for-2 early on and giving up as many chances as they generated. That turned in the third as the top unit was able to get set up in the zone and work the puck around with precision. Victor Hedman started the play with a faked-shot/pass down low to Steve Stamkos. The Captain immediately sent it towards the front of the net where Nick Paul had won position in front of Hoefer and was able to backhand it into the net for his 6th power play goal of the season.
From there it was a matter of getting Vasilevskiy the shutout. Unfortunately, a late-period scrum led to a mass of penalties following a hit by Eyssimont on Kasperi Kapanen. With Eyssimont picking up a minor along with his game misconduct, St. Louis went on the power play. The extra coaching by old friend Brad Richards paid off as Justin Faulk scored with just over four minutes to go.
That was it for the scoring and the Lightning had the 6-1 win. They’ll be back at it on Thursday as they host the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Lines
The Goals
Michael Eyssimont (Tanner Jeannot, Haydn Fleury) 1-0 Lightning
Nikita Kucherov (Brayden Point, Nick Paul) 3-0 Lightning
Nikita Kucherov (Nick Perbix, Nick Paul) 4-0 Lightning
Haydn Fleury (Steven Stamkos, Brandon Hagel) 5-0 Lightning
Nick Paul (Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman) Power Play, 6-0 Lightning
