The Tampa Bay Lightning got win number 29 of the season Wednesday night against the Vancouver Canucks in a 5-2 win. It marked the fifth win in a row for Tampa Bay in a streak where they have scored 4+ goals in every win. The Bolts have now swept the Canucks this season.
No. 500 For Stammer the Hammer, Plus a Little Extra
Steven Stamkos has had an immaculate career with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He is the team’s all-time leading goal scorer, and Wednesday night, he became the 47th player in NHL history to reach 500 career goals. The goal was scored in the first period courtesy of an Alex Killorn assist.
However, the fun did not stop there for Stamkos and the Lightning attack. The Bolts would snag three more goals in the first period courtesy of Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Stamkos (his second goal of the night). Killorn also assisted this goal. He has 18 assists on the year.
The scoring did not stop there. After a silent second period from both squads, the third period began with two power play Canucks’ goals coming from Andrei Kuzmenko and Quinn Hughes. J.T. Miller assisted both goals, bringing his season assist total to 23.
Also, in the third period, Stamkos would hit an open-netter from center ice to give him a hat trick. It was the tenth hat trick of the captain’s historic career, marking the first Tampa Bay hat trick in months since Stamkos got number nine of his career back in April against the New York Islanders. It also is the 64th hat trick in Lightning history as a whole.
Stamkos on the great night he had: “I am fortunate to have been playing for a long time and to do it with one organization is special… the ovation from the fans is something I’ll remember forever too.”
This final goal put the lead out of reach with around a minute and a half to go and the Bolts would skate on to victory.
Brian Elliott Has One of His Better Games in Net
Andrei Vasilevskiy got a breather after he helped Tampa Bay beat the Kraken, 4-1, earlier this week.
So, Brian Elliott was in net. His record this season has not been bad at 9-3-0 and he has a solid save percentage on the season at .903. However, there have been times this year when the 37-year-old gives up goals in bunches. He gave up 4, 5, and 5 in his three losses this year to the Wild, Red Wings, and Penguins, respectively.
Wednesday night, Elliott had one of his best games of the season in net putting up a save percentage of .949 with 37 total saves.
The Canucks actually out-shot the Lightning heavily 39 to 25. However, they just could not find a way to crack Elliott’s shield he had on his net. Being down 4-0 at the end of the first period also did not make it easy for Vancouver as they had to really stress getting pucks on net throughout the night.
Up Next
The Lightning remain third in the Atlantic division now with a record of 29-13-1. Their next game is Thursday night in Rogers Place against the Edmonton Oilers. Puck drop is at 9:00 p.m. E.T.