With the Eastern Conference playoff race developing into a free-for-all, being able to pick up two points in a game where the odds are slightly stacked against a team is dreadfully important. On a day when the Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t check into their hotel until roughly 3:00 AM, and in which they were starting their back-up goaltender, and one of their promising rookies was out of the line-up, they still found a way (let Nikita Kucherov cook) to overcome a game-tying, third-period goal from the Pittsburgh Penguins to pick up those important two points in a 5-2 win.
The start of the game was not pretty. Let’s not sugarcoat it, the Penguins played the Lightning off of the ice. Board battles were won by the home team. Pittsburgh clogged the neutral zone and jammed up the Lightning’s offensive hopes. The shot attempt battle was wildly in favor of the home team as the Pens posted 29 shot attempts while limiting the Lightning to just 8. It wasn’t like they were just flinging the puck with mild intent, either. Pittsburgh had 12 scoring chances with 7 of them considered high-danger.
As you might expect, all of that pressure yielded a goal.
Rickard Rakell (Bryan Rust, Marcus Pettersson) 1-0 Penguins
Kind of a bummer of a goal as Gage Goncalves made a nice play to block the initial shot, but the lost face-off, and the fact that Rakell was unchecked down low, made it tough on Jonas Johansson. Also, making it tough on the Bolts was that Mikey Eyssimont, who took an elbow to the face, missed about 12 minutes of the game.
At least he had an excuse for not playing in the first period. His teammates, not so much. They should all be picking up Johansson’s tab at Alla Famiglia tonight based on his play in the first period. JJ made 13 stops on 14 shots over the first 20 minutes and kept the Lightning within striking distance. The good news is that the first period was the Lightning’s worst period, and while the final forty minutes weren’t worthy of being hung in the Warhol Museum, they allowed the opportunistic Lightning offense to build a 2-1 lead compliments of Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov.
Hagel’s goal was simply sublime.
Brandon Hagel (Anthony Cirelli, Emil Lilleberg) 1-1
That’s not a rookie defenseman that Hagel dekes around. That’s probable hall-of-famer Erik Karlsson, who’s been in the league since the puck was made out of wood. Everyday this kid plays he just seems to get better.
Speaking of better, how about the player that is better than 99.9% of the league? Nikita Kucherov was quiet (at least by his standards) out on the West Coast. Needless to say, he’s back.
Nikita Kucherov (Victor Hedman, Jake Guentzel) 2-1 Lightning
Kucherov hasn’t been quite as lethal with his one-timers of late, so it’s good to see him get that one on target and past Tristan Jarry for the goal. With, a one-goal lead and twenty minutes to go, there was no need for it to textbook hockey to close things out. This was a hook-or-by-crook finish. So, of course they gave up the game-tying goal just over two-minutes into the period.
Kevin Hayes (Rickard Rackell, Sidney Crosby) Power Play, 2-2
Honestly, that was a really strong play by Rackell, who had Emil Lilleberg leaning, shoving, and basically hog-tying him, to pass it back to Hayes. As for Victor Hedman, if he had to do it over again, he probably plays the body instead of trying to knock the puck away.
A few minutes after the goal, Anthony Cirelli was sent to the penalty box for hooking against Karlsson. According to Coach Jon Cooper, this was the turning point of the game. The Bolts killed off the penalty to keep the game tied. Had they surrendered a goal since then, they probably didn’t have the resources left to pull off a comeback.
Instead, it was Nikita Kucherov doing Nikita Kucherov things.
GUESS WHO ⚡ Nikita Kucherov gives the @TBLightning the lead with just 3:03 remaining in the third!
— NHL (Bot) (@notnhl.bsky.social) January 12, 2025 at 8:12 PM
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Nikita Kucherov (unassisted) 3-2 Lightning
Victor Hedman doesn’t get an assist on this play, but it doesn’t happen with his play at the blueline to slow up the break-out. That allowed Kucherov to circle back and steal the puck to set up his goal. Big time players making big time plays at the right moment.
The Bolts capped off their scoring with a pair of empty-net goals from Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul. Kucherov picked up an assist on Cirelli’s goal to close out his three-point night.
Anthony Cirelli (Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel) Empty Net, 4-2 Lightning
Nick Paul (Jake Guentzel, Ryan McDonagh) Empty Net, 5-2 Lightning
Guentzel ended up with two points against his old team while Hagel and Cirelli also had multiple-point nights. Johansson finished with 31 saves on the night and a 2.12 GSAx. Not too shabby for a back-up.
The Bolts picked up 3 out of 4 points on their back-to-back weekend, and more importantly, won one of the games-in-hand they had on the Bruins. They are now two points clear of the Wild Card race, with a chance to double it when they take on Boston on Tuesday.
It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was an effective one.