Tampa Bay Lightning Special Teams Come Alive In Win Over Montreal Canadiens

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It’s been a slow process, but the Tampa Bay Lightning special teams came back to life in Tuesday nights 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

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From the outset, the Lightning seemed ready to play. They were first to pucks, limiting the Canadiens quick breakouts. In fact, early on the shot total read 9-0 in favor of the good guys. The game, however, remained scoreless thanks in large part to Ben Bishop and Carey Price.

Unfortunately, in what’s become a somewhat alarming trend as of late, the Canadiens drew first blood with under five minutes remaining in the opening frame. Dale Weise was credited with the goal, continuing his domination of the Lightning dating back to April’s playoff series.

The middle frame belonged to the Tampa Bay Lightning. J.T. Brown opened the scoring by pouncing on a Jonathan Drouin shot to tie things up at one apiece at the 3:17 mark. Brian Boyle picked up the secondary assist.

Approximately seven and a half minutes later, the Lightning’s power play came through. Nikita Kucherov sent a picture perfect pass across to Tyler Johnson, who roofed a shot over the shoulder of Price and into the net for a 2-1 lead.

No longer satisfied with a one-goal lead, the Bolts struck twice more in about a minute and a half span to end the second period.

Brett Connolly first roofed a shot past Price’s outstretched arm at even strength. Then, on another man advantage, Ondrej Palat shot the puck into a net-front scrum where it glanced off Johnson’s stick and past a flustered Price. All of a sudden, it was 4-1 Lightning and the Canadiens didn’t know what had hit them.

Compared to period 2, the final 20 minutes were fairly boring. Both teams traded odd man rushes, penalties and saves. The only difference was that the Canadiens got one back, with Max Pacioretty‘s shot glancing off Bishop’s glove and into the net, making it 4-2 Lightning.

Once the final horn sounded on another win, the Lightning had reason to celebrate. Minus the debacle in Pittsburgh, they’d collected six of a possible eight points on this four-game road trip and climbed back atop both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference standings.

While I’ll agree that falling behind early isn’t exactly ideal, the Tampa Bay Lightning have proven that coming back is part of their identity. Think about it. Since facing Toronto on December 29 of last year, the Bolts have trailed after 20 minutes in four of the last five games. However, they’ve come back to win in three of the four. That’s resiliency at its best.

Special teams have also picked up lately, with the Lightning tallying at least one power play goal in each of their three come-from-behind wins. Tuesday night, they doubled up by producing two man advantage goals in one game for the first time since November 26.

I know, I know. You’re probably asking yourself numerous questions, from “Who is this team and can we keep them?” to “Has hell frozen over?” To be frank, there’s no explanation regarding why the power play’s so woeful for an extended period of time before waking from its slumber. Maybe it was hibernating last month and decided now’s the perfect time to awaken? Who knows?

Either way, the Tampa Bay Lightning will look to keep the good vibes going when they return home to host the Buffalo Sabres Friday night. Puck drop’s set for 7:30 p.m.

Bipolar in more ways than one, the Sabres have been through hot and cold streaks similar to the weather in upstate New York this season. Right now they’re stumbling, but that can change in an instant so the Lightning need to be ready from the outset.

What are your thoughts regarding the Tampa Bay Lightning’s win over the Montreal Canadiens? Do you think the special teams have finally turned a corner? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

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