The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Anaheim Ducks in overtime 4-3.
I didn’t stay up to watch this game, so I can’t give you the particulars, but I will sum up the stats.
The goal scorers for the Lightning were Jeff Halpern, Martin St. Louis, and Steven Stamkos. Ryan Malone and Steve Downie each had two assists, while Vincent Lecavalier, Victor Hedman each had one.
The Lightning were again outshot, this time it was 27-24. So not by much, but still outshot all the same. Lecavalier had four shots on goal, while Halpern, St. Louis, and Andrej Meszaros each had three.
Penalties were apparently a big problem. Not having watched the game, I can’t tell you how fairly they were called. I can tell you, tho, that the majority of the penalties were called on defensemen. Of the seven minor penalties that were called, five were called on the defense. That’s been a recurring theme for Tampa Bay this season.
Faceoffs were much better. Lecavalier led the team, winning 12-8 (60%), and Stamkos was a lot better winning half of his draws (7-7; 50%). The team overall won 55% for the game.
As I’ve mentioned before, the Western Conference tends to be more physical than the Eastern Conference. And this game seemed to have fallen into that pattern. The Lightning were out-hit 27-17 by the Ducks. Malone had four hits, while Lecavalier, Lukas Krajicek, and Paul Szczechura each had two.
And the final lone stat of the night was that Matt Walker had four blocked shots.
Looking at the box score, the best players for the Lightning appeared to be Halpern, Lecavalier, and Meszaros.
The Lightning’s next game is Saturday, 21 November, at the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s a 7 pm ET start – hooray!
Game Recaps:
Tampa Bay 3, Anaheim 4 OT [Tampa Bay Lightning Official Site]
Niedermayer’s OT goal lifts Ducks over Lightning [NHL.com]
Tampa Bay Lightning loses to Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in OT [St. Petersburg Times]
Bolts fall to Ducks in overtime, 4-3 [Tampa Tribune]
