Tampa Bay Lightning secure top spot in the Atlantic division with a 20th victory
The Tampa Bay Lightning played the Devils in New Jersey on Monday night. The Devils had lost their last five coming into the game. The Lightning were looking to win the sixth of their last seven games. The night started out with a lot of speed from both sides. The Lightning looked good, but couldn’t convert due to the Devils matching them for most of the period. New Jersey stood their ground, especially challenging the Lightning in the middle of the ice. There was definitely a sense of urgency to the Devils play in hopes to break their recent losing streak.
The Lightning increased their shots on goal in the second half of the first. Kucherov scored the first goal for Tampa with 6:29 remaining off an assist from Braydon Point. There were a couple of Devil power plays, but the Lightning killed them off. New Jersey fans began booing as the Devils stalled on the 2nd of these power plays. Braydon Point scored a top-shelf goal for Tampa with an assist from Kucherov shortly before the end of the period.
The intensity increased dramatically at the start of the second. Tyler Johnson scored the first goal of the period with a deflection off a McDonagh shot. There was a lot of contact and activity after the whistles with New Jersey showing its frustration. Egor Yakolev scored his first NHL goal at 11:39 to put the Devils on the scoreboard. Yanni Gourde scored the second goal of the period at 13:19 into the second, as he headed towards the net from a slick no-look Stamkos assist. The period ended with the Bolts 7 seconds into a power play and up 4-1.
The third opened with Schneider in net in place of Kinkaid for the Devils. Stamkos quickly scored a powerplay goal on the first shot of the period with an assist from Kucherov at 19:40. The play went back and forth for the rest of the period. New Jersey continued to look frustrated and kept the pressure on the Lightning. The Referees seemed to let the two teams play with a lot of contact on and off the puck. The Lightning eventually got a final PP with 5:17 remaining off a Roughing call on Coleman. The Lightning powerplay couldn’t accomplish anything besides killing time off the clock. Despite the one-sided score, the Devils pushed until the last second of play. The final score ended with a 5-1 Bolts win. Kucherov ended the game with 4 points and Braydon Point ended it with 3. The loss completed the sweep of The Devils with the Lightning winning all three meetings this season.
The Lightning look good, despite missing starting goalie Andre Vasilevsky. Their offensive always seems to be able to outscore their opponents, no matter how many goals they let in. If they can continue this way, they will likely finish the season in the top three. It is scary to imagine what they could do if they could stop some of their opponents scoring. Tomorrow night the Bolts face the Red Wings in hopes to win 3 straight on the road. Their record against the Wings is good with the Bolts coming out victorious in the last 17 meetings. The only unknown factor is who will be in net for the Lightning. Their backup goaltender is Eddie Pasquale, recently called up from the Syracuse Crunch, and yet to make his NHL debut. The game starts Tuesday, 7pm (EST) in Detroit.
Anthony's Portfolio 