BOLTS OF LIGHTNING

A fantastic 3-0 segment for Tampa Bay. Here's how the Blue & Black garnered all of the possible 6 points.

GAME REVIEW

GAME 72 UTAH 0 LIGHTNING 8

Tampa Bay scored just 90 seconds into the contest and went on to annihilate Utah 8-0 Thursday at Amalie Arena. The Bolts moved to 42-25-5 adding up to 89 points. Utah slid to 32-29-11 staying at 75 points.

The Lightning registered two early first period goals with the first at the 1:30 mark. F Jake Guentzel (35) lit the lamp with F Nikita Kucherov (71) and D Ryan McDonagh (23) providing assists. The Bolts extended their lead to 2-nil at 4:20. D Victor Hedman (13) notched the marker with D J.J. Moser (11) and F Brandon Hagel (47) getting the helpers that closed out the scoring for the first 20 minutes of play.

The Blue & Black erupted for four unanswered scores in the middle period. The score became 3-zip at 5:05 when F Gage Goncalves (5) put the biscuit in the basket with D Emil Lilleberg (18) and F Yanni Gourde (18) having the assists. It became 4-0 at 9:14 when Kucherov (32) slid the puck across the goal line with F Brayden Point (35) and D Darren Raddysh (29) getting #86 the rubber disk.

The lead went to 5-0 with a power play score at 17:54. Guentzel (36) notched his 2nd of the evening with Kucherov (72) and Hedman (43) furnishing the helpers. The Bolts competed the second period scoring barrage with just 24 seconds left in the period. F Oliver Bjorkstrand (18) recorded the tally with Gourde (19) and McDonagh (24) feeding #22 rubber disk to make the score 6-0 after 40 minutes of play.

The Lightning completed the scoring with two more scores in the final stanza. Point (36) made it 7-0 at 8:59 with Kucherov (73) getting his 3rd assist of the evening and Hedman (44) getting his second assist of the fray. Tampa Bay ended the offensive onslaught at 14:54 when Bjorkstrand (19) deposited his second marker of the tilt with D Nick Perbix (13) finding his way to the scoring sheet to make the final arithmetic 8-0 in favor of the Bolts.

G Andrei Vasilevskiy (35-19-3) recorded his 6th shutout of the season and 40th of his illustrious career turning away all 25 shots on goal.

GAME 73 ISLANDERS 3 LIGHTNING 5  

Tampa Bay continued its winning ways Saturday at Amalie Arena with a 5-3 triumph over the New York Islanders. The Bolts advanced to 43-25-5 collecting 91 points. The Isles fell to 32-30-10 for a total of 72 points.

The Blue & Black posted three scores in the opening 20 minutes of play. It began at 2:02 with Kucherov (33) denting the scoreboard with Hedman (45) and Guentzel (35) registering the assists. The lead mounted to 2-nil at 7:31 when Perbix (5) found the back of the net with an unassisted goal. The home team finished the first period scoring when Point (37) lit the lamp with McDonagh (25) and Kucherov (74) providing the helpers to give the Blue & Black a 3-0 lead at the first intermission.

It took the Lightning almost all of the middle stanza to push their advantage to 4-nil. Point (38) registered his 2nd goal of the contest with Kucherov (75) and Hagel (48) finding #21.

The Islanders made the outcome interesting with three scores in the third period. The first was a power play goal at 5:58 and the next two occurred at 7:47 followed by another exactly a minute later to make the score 4-3.

Tampa Bay extinguished any hope of a comeback with 14 ticks left in regulation with an empty net marker. Guentzel (37) did the honors with Kucherov (76) having another three assist game and Hedman (46) getting the helpers making the final count 5-3 with the Bolts on top.

G Jonas Johansson (8-5-2) saved 35 of 38 shots on goal to post the victory.

GAME 74 LIGHTNING 4 ISLANDERS 1

Tampa Bay secured their 4th straight triumph with a 4-1 road victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday at UBS Arena. The Bolts went to 44-25-5 93 points. The Isles dropped to 32-32-10 remaining at 74 points.

The Lightning scored first at 8:46 of the opening stanza. Bjorkstrand (20) put the rubber disk between the pipes with Raddysh (30) and Point (36) providing the helpers. The Isles tied the score with a shorthanded goal at 10:57 to send both teams to their dressing room tied at 1 each.

That would be the last time the home team would change the scoreboard as it was all Bolts for the rest of the contest. Two second period goals advanced the lead with Guentzel (38) putting the biscuit in the basket at 8:09 with Kucherov (77) and Point (37) recording the assists to make the score 2-1. The lead increased in favor of the visitors at 10:41 when Hedman (14) put the rubber disk between the pipes with Kucherov (78) and Guentzel (36) finding #77 to make the score 3-1 after 40 minutes of play.

Tampa Bay posted the only score of the third stanza at 16:29. F Nick Paul (22) deposited the puck into an empty net with F Anthony Cirelli (27) and D Erik Cernak (18) getting the helpers giving the Lightning a 4-1 road triumph.

The Big Cat (36-19-3) stopped 28 of 29 shots to preserve the win.

ANALYSIS

*The Bolts have scored 6 or more goals in 5 of their 9 wins in March.

**Tampa Bay scored 12 straight goals from the Utah tilt through the second period of the Islanders contest for the third time in franchise history. The others were February 14 through 18 of 2019 (14 goals in 3 games) and January 7 to 12 in 2020 (13 markers in 4 games) and surpassed Winnipeg (11 goals in 4 contests from November 4 until 9) for most consecutive goals this campaign

***The Lightning are now 35-1-1 when leading after 40 minutes of play.