Perhaps the luck is changing a bit for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Last month, they couldn’t buy a break, but the puck bounced their way on a few occasions as they beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-1, behind Andrei Vasilevskiy’s 27 saves. Five different Bolts found the back of the net and Brayden Point had a three-point night.
With the lines shuffled due to the absence of Anthony Cirelli, who is listed as day-to-day, there were some interesting combinations on the ice. Conor Sheary returned and played 11:18 with one shot attempt. He also took a couple of big hits in the first period, a nice way to be welcomed back to the NHL.
The Lightning weren’t the only ones playing short-handed as Ottawa was without Shane Pinto, who was shaken up in the previous game. They also flipped their goaltending as Anton Forsberg finished the night with 24 saves.
First Period
The Senators came out with a little more giddy-up to their game and dictated play early, eventually drawing a power play when Nikita Kucherov went to the box for a high-stick. While the Senators were able to get into the Lightning zone, they couldn’t get any shots off, and Brandon Hagel sparked a two-on-one with Jake Guentzel. Jake couldn’t corral the pass (Cirelli would have had it!), but Ottawa struggled to get things going after it.
Building off the successful penalty kill, the Lightning found their offensive stride and started piling up the shots. They also went on the power play when Ridly Greig whacked Brayden Point in the face with his stick. Unlike Ottawa, Tampa Bay used their man-advantage to their advantage. After his personal attempt at lighting the lamp was stopped by Anton Forsberg, Nikita backhanded a pass to the slot. Point’s shot caught the goaltender in an awkward spot, and as Forsberg turned to his right to find the puck, that devilish piece of rubber fell to his left. With the puck at his feet, Jake Guentzel swatted it in for his 13th power play goal.
Jake Guentzel (Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov) Power Play, 1-0 Lightning
Both teams had their looks, but no more goals were forthcoming. Gage Goncalves had a nice look in the waning moments, but Forsberg was able to get his right pad on the shot to keep it out.
Second Period
The Senators came out with a little more sustained pressure in the second period, aided by an early power play after Vasilevskiy tripped up David Perron. Unlike their power play in the first period, Ottawa seemed to grasp the concept of having an extra attacker on the ice and put a couple of shots on net. The Lightning killed it off, but were still on their heels for most of the first part of the period.
It felt like the game-tying goal was coming, and it eventually did as the Senators had a nice long stretch of play in the Bolts zone. Eventually a shot came from the point and Michael Amadio re-directed it past Vasy to tie things at one goal a piece. Kucherov looking over his shoulder with the “how did that guy get back there” expression is the best part of the goal.
Michael Amadio (Tim Stutzle, Thomas Chabot) 1-1
The Lightning woke up a bit, and started to find some open ice. Point was tripped up on a two-on-one with Kucherov, drawing a penalty. While they had a few good looks at the net, saw the puck go just wide off of Hagel’s stick. With Jake Sanderson coming out of the box, the Senators had a two-on-one, but Vasilevskiy swallowed up the shot off of Matthew Highmore’s stick to keep things level.
While the Lightning didn’t have a ton of chances, Natural Stat Trick credited them with 8 scoring chances in the period, they made the most of their best look. Ryan McDonagh flung a long pass down the boards that Thomas Chabot thought he could cut off. He couldn’t and was out of position when Hagel collected the puck. The Lightning’s hottest scorer beat Forsberg under the pads to re-establish the one-goal lead.
Brandon Hagel (Ryan McDonagh, Andrei Vasilevskiy) 2-1 Lightning
The game leveled out over the last ten minutes with the teams trading chances. Ottawa had a little bit more of the run of play, and almost tied it up again when a shot leaked through Vasilevskiy, but only 99.88% of the puck crossed the goal-line before Vasy knocked it away.
Third Period
Much like they did in the second period, the Lightning decided to give the Senators an early power play as they were whistled for too-many-men on the ice. Which, if they had six skaters on the ice you would think that they wouldn’t give up a prime chance from the slot to Brady Tkachuk. You would be wrong, but Andrei Vasilevskiy is still one of the best and he stoned the Son of Keith.
The Lightning killed off the penalty, with Tkachuk taking a nasty spill into the boards when he lost an edge. A few minutes later, the Lightning drew a penalty as Mikey Eyssimont jumped on a turnover and then took a slash as he shot it on net. The power play went by the wayside and the two teams went into lockdown mode, really cutting off the center of the ice.
With time clicking away, it was Brayden Point who provided the cushion. Gage Goncalves, having the time of his life playing on the top line, rimmed a shot around the boards. Kucherov picked it up and centered it to Point, who flicked it at the net. It caught a stick and baffled Forsberg a bit before floating into the net.
Brayden Point (Nikita Kucherov, Gage Goncalves) 3-1 Lightning
Much like they did on Tuesday when the Lightning went up by two late, Ottawa pushed, but Claude Giroux, all alone on the near post, saw his shot ring off of the iron. The veteran could only look skyward and shake his head at the lost chance.
Also looking skyward as a puck headed to the net was Erik Cernak, who was leveled by Tkachuk as the Lightning defender banked the puck off of the glass and down the ice. Brady had the highlight hit, but Cernak had the last laugh as the puck found the empty net.
Erik Cernak (Brayden Point) Empty Net, 4-1 Lightning
Mitchell Chaffee boosted the aggregate scoring as he potted a rebound to make it 5-1.
Mitchell Chaffee (Darren Raddysh, Emil Lilleberg) 5-1 Lightning
With the victory, the Lightning pulled even with the Senators with 60 points, but vault over them due to their superior points percentage.
