This should have such a fun night. The Tampa Bay Lightning picked up their tenth win a row. Jon Cooper won his 600th game as a head coach. Nikita Kucherov rolled off yet another multi-point game (his ninth in a row). Jake Guentzel joined Brandon Hagel and Kucherov in the 20-goal club for the season. The power play scored twice in the 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Yet, one play casts a lengthy shadow over the win. On his power play goal early in the second period, Brayden Point had his leg twisted in an awkward position and had to leave the game. Injuries to important players continue to haunt the Lightning this season, yet they manage to find success.
In a sense, it was a textbook victory for the Lightning as they swept the season series from the Flyers. They scored early as Pontus Holmberg found the puck in front of Dan Vladar and wristed it through the smallest of gaps on the short side just 70 seconds into the game. Get the lead.
Both teams locked things down after the goal and it became tough for either team to get much going. Early in the second period Jake Guentzel was battling for position in the crease when Erik Cernak’s shot from the left boards hit him in the hip and went into the net. Not the most skillful goal, but Jake gets credit for his willingness to be in the front of the net.
Tampa Bay controlled the play for the first five minutes of the middle frame, with their solid play culminating in Point’s goal. After that, things opened up a bit as there was a flurry of activity that led to a perfect shot from Christian Dvorak eluding Jonas Johansson.
It would be the only puck to get past the Lightning’s back-up all night as stopped 20-of-21 for his 10th win of the season. He might not have been tested much, but he made several key saves when the game was still close. In front of him, the Lightning defense just didn’t allow a lot of sustained zone time for the Flyers. Protect the lead.
The Bolts weren’t exactly racking up a ton of chances on their own, but they took advantage when they did. Brandon Hagel, on the first power play unit due to Point’s absence, made it 4-1 on a nice wrister that beat a slightly screened Vladar. The goal came with just 30 seconds left in the period and seemed to deflate the Flyers a bit. Extend the lead.
Things turned physical in the third period following a boarding call from Rodrigo Abols on Declan Carlile. Nick Paul squared off with Abols while Max Crozier and Nikita Grebenkin had a nice little tilt. Crozier and Grebenkin picked up misconducts, as did Travis Konecny a few minutes later after he was called for a cross-check. The hit wasn’t much, but his complaining to the officials was a bit overboard and led to the misconduct.
Nikita Kucherov would add an empty net goal in the final minutes to finish off the scoring and the Lightning had their league-leading 16th road victory. They’ll take on the Penguins on Tuesday as they look to make it eleven in a row.
