Lightning find their groove with 8-3 win over Flames

A game after the Tampa Bay Lightning were held to just one goal for only the second time this season, the offense returned in an 8-3 victory over the Calgary Flames. Nikita Kucherov posted a 6-point night while Jake Guentzel posted his eighth career hat trick.

Brandon Hagel’s 13th goal of the season provided a two-goal lead for the Bolts just a minute into the final period, sparking a four-goal third period that cemented the game. With another multi-point game, Kucherov tied Marty St. Louis for second-most multi-point games in franchise history. In his 500th regular season game, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 of 22 shots for his 306th career victory, the most any netminder in NHL history has won in their first 500 games.

Jake Guentzel’s second goal of the night came on the power play and put the game out of reach. Special teams was a factor as the Bolts converted all three chances they had while not taking a penalty against. The offensive eruption was a welcome relief for Coach Cooper , and made things a little easier down the stretch for him. Already missing Erik Cernak, the defensive corps was stretched wafer-thin when Victor Hedman was a late scratch with a lower-body injury. Adding to the drama, J.J. Moser fell to the ice during Calgary’s third goal, and didn’t return.

The team adjusted to the lack of defensive players by spending more time in the Calgary zone and limiting Calgary’s shot attempts, especially when the outcome of the game was still of some concern. Through two periods Calgary was only able to muster 5 high-danger chances to the Lightning’s 10. It was a total team effort as the forwards dropped back multiple times to disrupt chances and prevent shots.

Even the Flames first goal was the result of hard work defensively as Anthony Cirelli aggressively back-checked a Calgay rush. He even got his stick on the play, but unfortunately he ended up making a beautiful pass between Ryan McDonagh’s legs that Jonathan Huberdeau swatted past Vasilevskiy. More hard work, this time by Kucherov tied things up at the end of the period as he picked Huberdeau’s pocket at the Lightning blue line and then beat Dan Vladar on a breakaway.

Guentzel started the scoring streak in third that built the lead to 4-1 in favor of the Lightning. Goals by Nazem Kadri and Conor Zary trimmed it to 4-3 before the Lightning opened it up in the third. Hagel knocked down a puck in front of the net and beat Vladar 43 seconds into the third period. Guentzel’s power play goal midway through the period kicked off a three-goal surge in six minutes that closed the game out.

Conor Geekie was promoted to the second line for the night and responded with one of his better efforts on the season. He ended up with six shots on goal and seven individual scoring chances. In the third period he finally found the back of the net as he finished off a nice feed from Hagel. The combinations of Geekie, Hagel, and Anthony Cirelli finished with 15 scoring chances on the night. Guentzel closed out the scoring as tapped home a beautiful feed from Brayden Point for his first hat trick as a member of the Lightning.

It was a big night for the top line as Kucherov finished with 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists), Point had 4 (1 goal, 3 assists), and Guentzel had 3 goals. Anthony Cirelli had a quiet 3 point night as well. Steven Santini, in his Lightning debut, ended up with 2 blocks in 11:39 of playing time. Ryan McDonagh (24:58) and Darren Raddysh (23:38) logged huge minutes in the absence of the big three defensemen.

While the offense won the night, the Lightning were really solid in their own zone for most of the night. Their ability to get the puck out of their zone quickly allowed them to push their offense as they touched up a normally staunch Calgary defense.