Two weeks ago Ross Colton was with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate in Syracuse. Wednesday night, he joined a small list of players to score in their National Hockey League (NHL) debut. His game-opening goal proved to be the game-winner in the Bolts 3-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Game Flow
First Period
Coming off of a much-needed 4-2 win over the Hurricanes on Monday night in Raleigh, the Lightning started a little slow. It didn’t take long for them to get their legs going though. The newly formed line of Brayden Point centering Ondrej Palat and Blake Coleman had a few good flurries around Canes goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic but were unable to break through. Unlike Saturday’s game, they kept pressuring the young netminder. It paid off, with Victor Hedman’s wraparound shot hitting Colton’s stick and surprising Nedeljkovic to make it 1-0 Bolts.
Instead of letting up, the Lightning beared down. Yanni Gourde, Barclay Goodrow and Mathieu Joseph had an extended stay in the offensive zone, nearly resulting in another goal. Nedeljkovic was alert though, keeping the Canes within one.
Seconds later, Sebastian Aho had a great opportunity to tie things up but Erik Cernak hindered him enough to send the shot wide. The Lightning took control again, drawing a penalty. With Brock McGinn off for hooking, the power play took a step in the right direction by scoring. Alex Killorn started the play by finding Gourde streaking up the right side. Gourde then sent a perfect centering pass over to Coleman who fired the puck top shelf to make it 2-0 Bolts.
Second Period
Entering the middle frame, the Lightning wanted to limit the Hurricanes chances. They certainly accomplished that goal, holding a 21-10 shot advantage until the period’s final minutes. Palat looked to have lengthened the lead to three, but officials ruled he pushed Nedeljkovic into the net before the puck crossed the line. On the next shift, Cal Foote was penalized for holding the stick and the Bolts found themselves facing adversity. They passed with flying colors, as the penalty kill kept the Canes high octane power play from getting set up. In fact, the Bolts controlled things shorthanded, with Gourde’s breakaway, one of two prime scoring opportunities that Nedeljkovic had to save.
Third Period
Heading into the final 20 minutes, the Lightning expected to get Carolina’s best. All they needed to do was play smart. Things didn’t start out well, as Point found himself in alone on Nedeljkovic but chose to pass backwards to a teammate. He turned the puck over but thankfully no damage was done.
After that, the Hurricanes controlled much of the play. Andrei Vasilevskiy was peppered by shots from all angles but stood tall. The penalty killing unit came up big too. With Mikhail Sergachev off for interference, Killorn and Vasilevskiy combined to make a number of big saves that kept Carolina off the scoreboard.
Later in the period, the Canes found themselves with a 2-on-1. With Vasilevskiy out of position, Jan Rutta saved a goal and preserved his goaltenders shutout. That led to Killorn’s smart play, as he passed the puck up to Barclay Goodrow who shot it into the empty net for a 3-0 lead and win.
Stats
Fresh off of a tough stretch, the Lightning have now won two in a row. They are now even in their season series with the Hurricanes, outscoring them 7-2 during the past couple of games. Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for his 22nd career shutout, but first against Carolina. Colton joins Nikita Kucherov and Anthony Cirelli as the only current Lightning players to score in their NHL debut.
Next Up
The Lightning will look to continue their winning ways when they face these same Hurricanes on Thursday, February 25 in Tampa. Puck drop is at 7 PM EST.