It was fitting that the final horn sounded on the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 6-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken with the Nick Paul line generating shots on the Seattle net. While the trio of Nick Paul, Corey Perry, and Oliver Bjorkstrand didn’t score in the win, they were a key part of a defensive effort that forced a lot of turnovers, and kept the puck in the Seattle zone for most of the night.
That line finished with an 11-0 edge in shot attempts, 6-0 edge in scoring chances, and 4-0 edge in high-danger chances. They might not be gifted with speed, but they have tenacity in bucketsful. Their ability to bottle up the Kraken 200 feet away from the Lightning went a long way in wearing down the defense, which allowed the other lines to find the back of the net.
Nikita Kucherov recorded a hat-trick and had five points. Brandon Hagel had four points and Anthony Cirelli had three. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 16-of-18 shots to snap his personal losing streak.
First Period:
Defense first, scoring second. The Lightning put up two goals in the first period, but the best stat out of the first twenty minutes was the 23-8 edge in shot attempts. Yes, that was padded by a couple of power plays, but the fact that they held Seattle to just eight attempts had to make the coaching staff happy. Add in the fact that the Kraken were credited with just one high-danger chance and that’s the path to successful hockey.
Most of the period was played in the Seattle zone as the Lightning did to the Kraken what teams have been doing to them since the break. Tampa Bay broke up plays at the offensive blue line, they forechecked, and they created turnovers. The first goal of the game was a prime example:
Gage Goncalves [11] (Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel) 1-0 Lightning
Jared McCann had a chance to clear the puck at his own blueline, but Darren Raddysh cut him off. Gage Goncalves came over and created the turnover, then broke to the net. Jake Guentzel fed Brayden Point, who found Goncalves down low for the deflection. That was a nice linked-up play by the Bolts as everyone on the line did what they needed to do in order to score the goal.
The Bolts had a chance to double their lead with back-to-back chances. Despite some nice zone time and a beautiful chance from the slot for Point, they could not convert. When Seattle was awarded power play of their own right after, there was a minor tipping point. A Seattle goal would erase the lead, and the solid effort the Lightning had displayed to that point. Instead, the Bolts shut it down.
Seattle had just two shot attempts with the extra skater (as did the Lightning short-handed) and just after Corey Perry jumped back on the ice, the Lightning used another turnover to score their second goal. Look, they are often criticized for trying to pass the puck into the net, but when they pull it off, it is a pretty, pretty thing to watch.
Nikita Kucherov [35] (Brandon Hagel) 2-0 Lightning
Again, this should be a clear for the Kraken. The Lightning were changing their lines behind Brandon Hagel’s forecheck, but Ben Myers never saw Kucherov coming. The Lightning superstar picked his pocket, fed it to Hagel, who sold Ryan Lindgren and Phillip Grubauer on a shot before he slid the puck back to Kucherov. Grubauer was flailing on the ice like a five-year-old learning the backstroke while Lindgren was left staring off into the first row of seats. Meanwhile Kucherov tucked it into an empty net for his 35th goal of the season and 392nd of his career.
It was a pretty goal that came as a result of a nice defensive play, and it gave the Lightning a two-goal cushion heading into the break.
Second Period
Through 40 minutes, the best part of the Lightning’s game was their penalty kill, and it helped them end the period with a lead, though it wasn’t as big as it was when the period started. Things started off just fine for the Bolts as Kucherov netted his second goal of the night just 57 seconds into the period.
Nikita Kucherov [36] (Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel) 3-0 Lightning 3-1 Lightning
So, the rout was on, eh? C’mon now, this is the Lightning. Nothing is worth anything unless there is some adversity to persevere through. Ten seconds after the Kucherov goal, the Kraken were on the board. It started with a nice save at the blueline by Matty Berniers, who leapt high to keep Darren Raddysh’s clear in the zone. The puck made it’s way to Bobby McMann who roofed it over Vasilevskiy on the short side.
Bobby McMann [23] (Matty Berniers) 3-2 Lightning
From there, the pressure the Lightning had been exuding over the Kraken dissipated. The home team had the better run of play for most of the period and it lead to a couple of power plays. The Lightning killed off the first one, but just after it expired, Jaren McCann made a nice play off of the boards and beat Vasilevskiy glove-side.
Jared McCann [18] (Jordan Eberle, Philipp Grubauer) 3-2 Lightning
With half of a period to go, it felt the momentum was firmly in Seattle’s favor. However, the Lightning killed off another penalty (and had a nice chance on a Zemgus Girgensons breakaway, but the puck wouldn’t settle down for the veteran). After the Lightning killed it off, there was a nice shift by the Nick Paul line followed by another one by the Gourde line. The bottom-six spent a majority of their time on the ice in the Seattle zone. Did it lead to a goal? No, but did it let the Lightning get their skates back under them? Yes.
Third Period
Yanni Gourde throwing hits and dropping mitts probably brought back some fond memories for the Kraken faithful. He squared up with Ben Meyers early in the frame as both teams looked for a jolt of energy. It was the Lightning that followed the fight up with a little offense. Another forced turnover led to a chance and Anthony Cirelli was in front of the net to put it home.
Anthony Cirelli [16] (Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel) 4-2 Lightning
From this point on, the Lightning simply locked things down defensively. Seattle was limited to lone shots from distance as Tampa Bay simply didn’t give them any room on the ice.
The one aspect of the game the Lightning had yet to be successful in was with the extra skater. Enter Brandon Hagel. He finished off a nice passing play from Kucherov and Goncalves to make it 5-2.
Brandon Hagel [31] (Gage Goncalves, Nikita Kucherov) Power Play, 5-2 Lightning
Kucherov made it a five-point night with an empty-net goal and the Lightning had their much needed victory.
Nikita Kucherov [37] (Anthony Cirelli) Empty Net, 6-2 Lightning
The six goals was big for a Lightning offense that has been up and down, but another six was more important. As in six high-danger chances for the Seattle Kraken. That’s all Tampa Bay allowed all night. The front of the net belonged to the Bolts. It’s the first time in six games that they’ve allowed less than 12 dangerous chances in 60 minutes of action. That’s the type of play that bodes well for success in the playoffs.
Now they just have to go out and do it again on Thursday.
