Victor Hedman Returns as the Tampa Bay Lightning Complete Perfect Home Stand

By Tasha St. Pierre | Nov 29, 2014

The Tampa Bay Lightning stepped into Amalie Arena tonight to square off with Erik Karlsson and the Ottawa Senators in the hopes of finishing off yet another perfect home stand. What the Lightning actually got was so much more than anticipated. The Lightning rallied in the third period for a 4-1 win over the Senators.

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As most of you know by now, the Tampa Bay Lightning officially parted ways with defenseman Eric Brewer, who was sent to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a third round draft pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. This meant that there was going to be a shift in the lineup.

The best news of the night, other than the win of course, is that tonight’s game saw the return of Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, who has been sidelined for six weeks with a fractured finger. While Hedman didn’t find his name on the score sheet tonight, he was on the ice for two of the Lightning’s goals.

Surprisingly enough, the game started out very lackluster. It wouldn’t be until the final two minutes of the first period before someone would strike first blood. Unfortunately for the Bolts, that honor would go to the Senators as David Legwand – who was playing in his 1000^th game – sunk on past Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop.

The Lightning saw a bit of a boost in the second period when the captain Steven Stamkos fired a shot to Ryan Callahan, who was able to catch Senators goaltender Robin Lehner flat on his face. This would tie the game up for the Bolts.

We’re not sure what went on in the locker room during the second intermission, but whatever it was certainly inspired the Lightning to pick up the pace and get more aggressive; both offensively and defensively.

The action kicked off pretty earlier as Alex Killorn, who has already earned himself an assist on the Callahan goal, was able to net himself a goal of his own off of a redirect from defenseman Anton Stralman. The secondary assist on the Killorn goal was awarded to Ryan Callahan, who earned his second point of the night.

The real bell-ringer came just about seven minutes later when left wing Brenden Morrow was able to take a sweet pass from center Cedric Paquette and find his way past Lehner for his first-ever Tampa Bay Lightning goal. Needless to say, the entire team was ecstatic for him; as were the fans.

The final nail in the coffin would come just before the 14 minute mark while the Tampa Bay Lightning was in the final seconds of a 4 minute Power Play opportunity. You see, Senators left wing Clarke MacArthur was sent to the box on a double minor for high sticking after he nailed Alex Killorn in the face with his stick.

As we said, as the final seconds began to tick off of the clock on the Power Play, Nikita Kucherov was able to tip in a pass from Tyler Johnson and Jason Garrison to give the Bolts a three-goal lead.

Now, was tonight’s game a perfect game? Certainly not. There were mistakes that were made; however, they were much more few and far between than we have seen them in the past. While the first two periods seemed like bit of a challenge, the team was able to put it all together and get the job done.

I must say that I am rather fond of the pairing of Steven Stamkos, Ryan Callahan, and Alex Killorn. This is the most chemistry that we have seen on the first line in quite some time. I must say, it was a rather refreshing experience. Could this be the permanent design of this line? We guess we’ll have to wait and see.

At the end of the day, while it may not have been a perfect game, a win is a win. As long as the Lightning continue to be aggressive on both on the offense and defense as well as limiting the turnovers and time spent in the penalty box, then the Bolts should have a one-way ticket to the post season.

Unfortunately, we are still very early in the season, and the post season is another discussion for another day; however, we’ll just leave this little tidbit right here.

The Tampa Bay Lightning settle into third place in the NHL as of November 29, 2014.

Photo Credit: NHL.com

The Tampa Bay Lightning has a tough road ahead of them as they head out on the road for a short two-game road trip. Unfortunately, those two games just happen to be back-to-back…again.

The first stop is Madison Square Garden where they will take on former Lightning captain Martin St. Louis and the New York Rangers. From there, it will be off to the First Niagara Center to go head-to-head with Tyler Ennis and the Buffalo Sabres.

All the action kicks off on Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. in New York.

What did you think of tonight’s game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Ottawa Senators? How do you think the return of Victor Hedman played into tonight’s 4-1 win over the Senators? What do you think the Bolts can take from tonight’s game as they prepare to face off with the Rangers? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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