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Lightning begin road trip with 5-2 win over the Avalanche

Oct 30, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning center Conor Geekie (14) scores a goal against Colorado Avalanche goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen (34) in the first period at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Lightning jumped out to a three-goal lead less than six minutes into the game, and then held on for a 5-2 win over the Avalanche to run their winning streak to three games. Nikita Kucherov scored just a minute into the game and then added an assist as he went head-to-head with Nathan MacKinnon, the man who beat him out for the Hart Trophy last season.

In net, Andrei Vasilevskiy crept one win closer to 300 on his career as he stopped 33-of-35 shots including 12-of-13 in the third period when the Avalanche dominated possession. On a bit of a down note, Erik Cernak left the game in the second period after being boarded and did not return.

First Period:

Road struggles? What road struggles? The Lightning, more specifically Nikita Kucherov, came out playing like they had something to prove. Just a minute into the game, Brayden Point fed Kucherov at the top of the slot and the spurned Hart Finalist fired it home. He can truly shoot and score from anywhere on the ice.

Nikita Kucherov (Brayden Point, Victor Hedman) 1-0 Lightning

https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1851795080111075547

He can shoot the puck at an elite level, but Kucherov is at his very best when he is setting up his teammates. Just a few shifts after that goal, Kucherov brought the puck in with speed. The defense had to respect the fact that his hands are quick enough that if he glides behind the net he can wrap it around in a tight spot. That left a space to the right side and Kucherov deftly dropped the pass back to Jake Guentzel at the near side. Guentzel had the entire net to put the puck into, and he did.

Jake Guentzel (Nikita Kucherov, Ryan McDonagh) 2-0 Lightning

https://twitter.com/FDSN_Lightning/status/1851795427911512490

Colorado was on their heels a bit at this point, and that’s the perfect time to put out the Anthony Cirelli line, a line that has been generated a ton of odd-man rushes since being put together. This time it was a turnover in the neutral zone that prompted a 3-on-1 break that resulted in Conor Geekie slamming home his second goal of the season.

Conor Geekie (Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel) 3-0 Lightning

https://twitter.com/FDSN_Lightning/status/1851796605760082184

Colorado might have been on their heels after this goal, but they didn’t stop playing. Then the Bolts ultimate kryptonite was tossed onto the ice – a Lightning power play. While they had some zone time, they generated just one shot on net (and no scoring chances). It did end prematurely, but that was just because Andrei Vasilevskiy tripped up Cale Makar.

With the way the Lightning penalty kill is struggling on the road, it was only a question of when, not if, the Avalanche power play would score. The answer was 37 seconds into the man-advantage.

Ivan Ivan (Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon) Power Play, 3-1 Lightning

Colorado had the advantage (despite being down by two) but the Lightning closed the door from there. Unlike in previous seasons, Tampa Bay didn’t let a bad moment expand into many bad moments. The slowly pulled back to even in regards to possession.

Second Period

There are key saves in every game, and sometimes they come early in the second period when a team is up by two. Andrei Vasilevskiy was faced with a shot by Nate MacKinnon (that he stopped) and a rebound chance by Mikko Rantanen (he also stopped that). Buoyed by that play, the Lightning decided to give Vasilevsky a little more of a cushion, and it was that line again.

Jake Guentzel was in his usual spot in front of the net and was in the perfect position to put the puck home after Brayden Point’s shot hit the iron.

Jake Guentzel (Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov) 4-1 Lightning

https://twitter.com/TBLightning/status/1851812526910046615

The nice thing about a three-goal lead is that it makes penalty kills a little less threatening. Which was a good thing for the Lightning since they decided to take back-to-back penalties. The Avalanche spent most of the time with the extra skater in the zone, but much of the danger was kept to the edges by the Bolts. Despite some extended shifts from Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel, the Lightning survived the penalties.

Following a bad hit along the boards by Matt Steinburg that shook up Erik Cernak and led to Steinburg picking up a game-misconduct penalty and a five-minute boarding, the Lightning finished the period on the power play.

Third Period:

In most of their victories this season, the Lightning have played extremely strong third periods with the lead. They’ve blended the right amount of aggressiveness with responsible defense. Tonight was not one of those nights. The Avalanche dominated from pretty much the time the Lightnings power play expired. Maybe it was the altitude, or the fact that the Lightning were down a defenseman as Cernak did not return.

One player that was breathing just fine was the goaltender. Vasilevskiy was a stone wall to begin the period, but after a sustained period of pressure he let one behind him. It was the birthday boy, Cale Makar, who flung one through traffic to cut the Lightning lead back down to two.

Cale Makar (Mikko Rantanan, Nathan MacKinnon) 4-2 Lightning

The Avs kept pressing, especially when the MacKinnon line was on the ice, but some steady positioning and strong goaltending from Vasilevskiy, they wouldn’t get any closer. It wasn’t for a lack of trying as they out-chanced the Bolts 12-3, with 6 of those scoring chances considered dangerous. In fact, the Lightning would be credited with just two shots on goal in the third period. Luckily one of those was at an empty net. And Anthony Cirelli didn’t miss.

Anthony Cirelli (Brandon Hagel) Empty Net, 5-2

It wasn’t the prettiest third period, but it worked out in the end.

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