BOLTS OF LIGHTNING

A great three-game segment for Tampa Bay. 3-0 with the first two convincing wins over the hottest teams in the National Hockey League in Winnipeg and New Jersey then to finish off the triad with a comeback triumph over Pittsburgh. The possible 6 points was attained and here’s how it went down. Enjoy.

GAME REVIEW

GAME 15 JETS 1 LIGHTNING 4

Tampa Bay stormed out to a three-goal lead and defeated Winnipeg 4-1 Thursday at Amalie Arena. With the victory the Lightning advanced to 8-6-1 for a total of 17 points. The Jets fell to 15-2 and that equates to a league-leading 30 points.

For the ninth game in a row, the Bolts dented the scoreboard first. F Jake Guentzel (6) took a nifty pass from F Nick Paul (8) and lit the lamp to give Tampa Bay an early 1-0 advantage. D Ryan McDonaugh (5) recorded the other assist at 7:24 of the initial stanza.

Tampa Bay increased their lead to 2-zip early in the middle period. F Brandon Hagel (9) deposited the biscuit in the basket at 3:10 with D Nick Perbix (4) and D Emil Lilleberg (4) getting the helpers.

In less than a minute the Lightning quickly pushed the margin to 3-0. Taking advantage of a power play opportunity F Anthony Cirelli (3) redirected a shot from the high slot to record his 100th goal as a member of the Bolts at 4:07. Assists were credited to D Victor Hedman (11) and F Nikita Kucherov (13), and it looked like Tampa Bay was off to the races.

But not so fast my friends. The Jets cut the deficit to 3-1 with a goal at 6:54 of the second period and that was the score at the conclusion of the first 40 minutes of play.

Both goalies were the story in the final period and the Bolts finished the scoring with 21 ticks left in regulation with Guentzel (7) recording an empty netter for his second of the evening. The assist was credited to D Erik Cernal (5) and G Andrei Vasilevskiy (7-5-1) earned the win turning away 23 of 24 shots and it was the 300th victory of his career.

GAME 16 DEVILS 0 LIGHTNING 4

Tampa Bay scored first again and rode the tide of a hot goaltender to post a 4-0 triumph over New Jersey Saturday at Amalie Arena. The Lightning improved to 9-6-1 for a total of 19 points. The Devils dropped to 12-7-2 and that equates to 26 points.

For the 10th consecutive game, the Bolts put up the initial marker of the contest. This time it was Paul (5) putting the biscuit in the basket at 14:27 of the opening stanza.  Helpers went to Guentzel (9) and Lilleberg (5) and both teams went to the locker room after 20 minutes of play with Tampa Bay holding a slim 1-0 advantage.

After a scoreless middle period, Tampa Bay extended their lead to 2-0 just 39 seconds into the final 20 minutes. D Darren Raddysh (1) posted his initial marker of the campaign with assists going to Kucherov (14) and Cirelli (12). The Lightning pushed the lead to 3-zip at 7:40 when Hedman (4) on the power play blasted home a shot from the high slot with assists from Kucherov (15) and Guentzel (9).

The final tally of the evening for the Bolts never crossed the goal line. Cirelli (4) was credited with a goal at 19:48 when a Devils player threw his stick at #71 who was heading toward an empty net with the puck. Assists went to Hagel (9) and Hedman (12) making the final arithmetic 4-0.

The real story of the contest was #88. After posting his 300th victory Thursday, all Vasilevskiy (8-5-1) did was make #301 a clean sheet stopping all 29 New Jersey shots on goal.

GAME 17 LIGHTNING 3 PENGUINS 2 OT

Tampa Bay comes all the way back from being down 2-0 after 40 minutes of play to knot the contest and win in overtime 3-2 over Pittsburgh Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena. The Bolts improved to 10-6-1 and that adds up to 21 points. The Pens fell to 7-10-4 and that equates to 18 points.

For the first time in the last 11 contests, the Lightning did not score first. The Penguins took a 1-0 lead at 12:05 of the opening period. Pittsburgh expanded the advantage at 13:05 of the middle stanza and both teams went to the locker room with the Pens up 2-nil.

The final 20 minutes belonged to the Bolts. The visitors cut the lead to 2-1 at 5:41. F Brayden Point (9) returned to the lineup after missing the last two tilts with a lower-body injury lit the lamp with McDonaugh (6) and Raddysh (3) providing the assists. Tampa Bay pulled even at 12:49 when Cirelli (5) put the biscuit in the basket with Hedman (13) and Raddysh (4) being credited with the helpers. Both goalies took over from there and preserved the tie, forcing overtime.

Point (10) ended the contest at 3:58 of extra time. D JJ Moser (5) and F Conor Geekie (2) recorded the assists, and the Lightning notched at least a point in four consecutive games.

#88 (9-5-1) stopped 17 of 19 shots and recorded the win that is his third consecutive victory.

ANALYSIS

*Tampa Bay defeated the two best teams in the NHL in Winnipeg and New Jersey after losing 4 straight games.

**The Bolts streak of having scored first in the last 10 games was broken in Pittsburgh but the Lightning erased a two-goal deficit to claim the triumph in overtime.

***Over these three games Vasilevskiy has allowed just 3 goals and that equates to a save percentage of .968 and a 0.98 goals against average.