Lightning Fall to Ducks in 5-1 Loss

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Anaheim Ducks 6-1 on Friday night. On an unusual night for Vasilevskiy, the Lightning lost some ground in the race for the Atlantic Division title. On the other hand, the Ducks helped their pursuit for the Pacific Division title; they sit one spot from first.

Game Recap

Tampa Bay practically started the game down one man, as Kucherov was in the box 13 seconds into the game. Although the Ducks could not score on the power play, they did score the first goal of the game. Derek Grant scored with around eight minutes left for a 1-0 Anaheim lead. Also, just prior to the end of the period, former Bolt Kevin Shattenkirk scored goal number two for the Ducks. Anaheim dominated the first period with a 2-0 lead and 18 shots.

In the second period, each team took three penalties. On Anaheim’s second power play of the period, Grant added his second of the game for a 3-0 lead. Apart from this one power-play goal, there were no other goals on the other five man advantages. Despite the goal for the Ducks, the tide turned in the second period with better play coming from Tampa Bay. In the middle frame, the Bolts outshot Anaheim 16-10.

In the final frame, Vinni Lettieri would add another to the Ducks tally of goals a minute and half in. Roughly four minutes later, Ross Colton broke the chance for a John Gibson shutout. Desperate to get a point and give a spark of hope to the team, Jon Cooper pulled Vasilevskiy during a power play for a six-on-four. Despite having an extra two men, Tampa Bay turned the puck over and Anaheim added number five. To end the game, Cal Foote and Buddy Robinson dropped the gloves.

In the end, Tampa Bay did not show up until the second period, which was not enough, causing them to lose the game.

Up Next

On Saturday night, the Lightning wrap up their California road trip against the San Jose Sharks. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:30 PM EST at the SAP Center.

(Featured image by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images)

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