Fresh off a comeback win over Montreal on Tuesday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning entered Thursday’s game in Toronto with momentum. Steven Stamkos made sure the good vibes kept flowing, with four points in a 5-3 win over the Maple Leafs.
Game Recap
Period 1
Straight out of the gate, the Lightning looked slow. Toronto had all the zone time and a 9-3 shot advantage in the first 10 minutes. They drew an early penalty on rookie Taylor Raddysh and made Tampa Bay pay, as Ondrej Kase scored 13 seconds into the man advantage. That gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead.
As the period went along, the Lightning woke up. Corey Perry made a beautiful pass to Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to tie things up at the period’s halfway mark. That helped fuel the team. They started moving their feet and possessing the puck. A penalty was drawn as a result, with Wayne Simmonds going to the box.
The power play kept showing small signs of life without key cogs Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. Alex Killorn held the puck in the zone before sending a bouncing puck over to Stamkos. The captain didn’t miss, firing a shot over the shoulder of Maple Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell to give the Bolts a 2-1 lead.
Unfortunately, that didn’t last. A defensive lapse by Victor Hedman allowed William Nylander to fire a rocket past Andrei Vasilevskiy with seven seconds remaining in the period. That tied things at two.
Period 2
With things even after one period, the Lightning wanted to build off the momentum they showed in the second half of period 1. They did that, led by the newly formed line of Stamkos, Ondrej Palat and Raddysh.
Four minutes in, Stamkos carried the puck up the right side boards. He then threaded a perfect pass to Palat who deposited it behind Campbell for a 3-2 lead.
Less than six minutes later, Stamkos again passed the puck to the rookie Raddysh. In his second game against his hometown team, he scored to give the Bolts a two goal lead.
Period 3
Entering the final period, the Lightning were focused on holding a lead while taking the chances they were given.
It wasn’t easy, but they accomplished that goal.
Kase scored near the midway point of the final period to pull Toronto within one, creating a furious finish.
However, remembering the last game in Toronto, the Bolts beared down and didn’t allow the Leafs to score with the extra attacker. Instead, Killorn held the puck in before passing to Palat, who tapped the puck into a open net. That made it 5-3.
Game Notes
- Head coach Jon Cooper recorded his 400th career win on Thursday night. He becomes the fastest coach in NHL history to reach 400 wins.
- Assistant athletic trainer Mike Poirrier reached 1,500 games Thursday.
- With four points on the night, Steven Stamkos has 898 points. That is only two points away from 900 in an already illustrious career.
- The Lightning currently have all eight points available on their current five game road trip. They’re also on a five game win streak.
Up Next
With eight points already, the Lightning look to make it a perfect road trip when they head to Ottawa for a Saturday matinee game against the always-tough Senators. Puck drop is scheduled for 1PM EST.
(Featured image by Andrew Lahodynskyj/NHLI via Getty Images)