Tampa Bay Lightning Fight Back In Overtime To Defeat Vancouver Canucks

The Tampa Bay Lightning fought through an exciting 3-on-3 overtime period to bring home the two points and defeat captain Henrik Sedin and the Vancouver Canucks.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have officially crossed into the 2^nd half of the season, closing out the 1^st half of the season with their 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers last night at Rexall Place in Edmonton. Tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning are back at it again as they head into the Rogers Arena to face off with captain Henrik Sedin and the Vancouver Canucks.

Tonight’s encounter with the Canucks is so much more than your average hockey game. Firstly, tonight is the second and final meeting between these two teams this season. Should Vancouver pull out a win tonight against the Bolts, they will complete a season sweep of the Lightning. As you can imagine, the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to have something to say about this.

Also, and more importantly, if the Tampa Bay Lightning are able to pull out a win tonight over the Canucks, they will be able to keep pace with the Ottawa Senators and continue to fight for a position in the overall post season picture. As we said before, at this point in the season every single point matters and the Tampa Bay Lightning are in serious need of some consistency.

The good news is, it seems the Tampa Bay Lightning has finally heeded the cries of the Bolts Nation. The Lightning wasted no time in putting the offensive pressure on Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom tonight. In the opening minutes of the game, Lightning center Valtteri Filppula would make his way in front of the Canucks net and really make Markstrom work for his first save of the game.

Unfortunately for Markstrom, he wouldn’t be quite so lucky just a matter of moments later. Tampa Bay Lightning center Alex Killorn would snap a seven-game goal scoring drought for Killorn as he put the puck in the back of the net to give the Bolts the early lead over the Canucks. The play was initially set in motion by the stellar stick of Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov.

Surprisingly enough, the Lightning found their first goal of the night just 3:41 into the period. This is exactly what we meant when we said the Tampa Bay Lightning needed to hit the ice with a fiery passion and set the tone early in the game instead of letting their opponents dictate how the game would play out.

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When the Tampa Bay Lightning reached the halfway point in the first period, the Lightning would outshoot the Canucks 5-1. This is definitely a change of pace from what Tampa Bay Lightning fans have seen in recent games.

Unfortunately, no amount of shots on goal could keep the #TBLightning out of the penalty box. The Lightning would get the first penalty of the game as Lightning alternate captain Ryan Callahan was sent to the box for two minutes for Holding. The good news is, the Lightning’s penalty kill would be able to hold strong and kill the first penalty of the game.

The bad news here is, the Tampa Bay Lightning would not be quite as lucky with the next penalty kill. At 14:12, Lightning center Alex Killorn would find himself with a one-way ticket to the penalty box for holding Canucks right wing Jake Virtanen. This time, the Canucks would capitalize on the man advantage. Canucks center Bo Horvat would make short work of Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, passing the puck to an open Sven Baertschi who would put the puck past Vasilevskiy and into the back of the net.

Something like this is very disheartening for Tampa Bay Lightning fans who were really pushing for the Tampa Bay Lightning to head into the first intermission with a lead. Unfortunately, it was simply not meant to be. When the buzzer would sound to end the first period of play, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Vancouver Canucks would be all tied up at one apiece.

The Tampa Bay Lightning definitely came out with the kind of pressure we were looking for, but they seemed to slip away ever so slightly towards the end of the period. All in all, it was a far cry above what we have come to expect from the Lightning as of late.

The Tampa Bay Lightning would come out strong when they hit the ice for the second period of play. Unfortunately, some of their momentum would be swept away thanks to an errant stick. Vancouver Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler would fail to watch where his stick was and caught Kucherov right in the face. As you can imagine, Kucherov was in quite a bit of pain after the hit.

Considering the fact Edler’s stick drew blood from Kucherov’s face with the high stick, Edler would be shipped off to the sin bin for a double minor. Despite a few glimmers of pressure in the opening minutes of the power play, the Tampa Bay Lightning found themselves unable to capitalize on their four minute man advantage.

The Tampa Bay Lightning would get another crack at the man advantage in the second period as Alex Edler would be sent to the sin bin once again. This time it would be for Interference against Lightning right wing Erik Condra. Once again, the Lightning would find themselves incapable of capitalizing on the man advantage.

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We have seen sparks of the special teams unit we came to know last season, but much like their offensive game, the Tampa Bay Lightning has struggled to find any sort of consistency on special teams. This is something the team will most certainly have to get under control before the end of the regular season if they hope to continue playing hockey in April.

When the buzzer sounded to end the second period of play, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vancouver Canucks would remain locked up at one goal apiece. This time, it would be the Lightning who would outshoot the Canucks 9-7. This brings the total shots on goal to 15 apiece through 40 minutes of play.

In the second period of play, the Lightning seemed to struggle a little bit, giving up some momentum-killing turnovers. On the bright side, between the fantastic efforts of Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning defense, the Canucks were not able to make anything of their handed opportunities.

When the two teams would hit the ice for the third period of play, it would be the Vancouver Canucks who would come out flying and apply a healthy dose of pressure on the Tampa Bay Lightning defense. The scales almost tipped towards the Vancouver Canucks. Thankfully, Andrei Vasilevskiy is on his game tonight.

Vasilevskiy absolutely robbed Canucks center Bo Horvat, who put a solid shot on net after blowing through Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Jason Garrison. Thankfully, Vasilevskiy’s glove contains some sort of magic that allows him to make incredible saves. Maybe it just his talent. Yeah…we’re pretty sure that’s all Vasilevskiy.

As the Tampa Bay Lightning made their way to the halfway point in the third period, they would find themselves still locked up at one goal apiece with the Vancouver Canucks. Just as these two teams passed the halfway point, the Lightning would once again find themselves on the Power Play.

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Tampa Bay Lightning center Tyler Johnson would get absolutely crunched into the boards by a crosscheck from Vancouver Canucks defenseman Yannick Weber. While Johnson seemed shaken up by the crosscheck, he did make his way to the bench under his own power. This would give the Tampa Bay Lightning their fourth opportunity of the night with the man advantage.

The Lightning would apply some pretty decent pressure on this Power Play opportunity, but the Bolts would still come up empty. Well…sort of. Just as the penalty would expire, Lightning center Valtteri Filppula would score his fifth goal of the season to give the Tampa Bay Lightning the lead with 7:40 left in the game. Vancouver would challenge the goal, but after review the call was upheld and the Lightning would retake the lead.

As the final minute in the game would begin to tick off the clock, Tampa Bay Lightning fans would sit on the edge of their seats hoping for a regulation win to finish off their back-to-back weekend series. Unfortunately, this was not the ending the Tampa Bay Lightning would receive.

Vancouver Canucks defenseman Ben Hutton would make his way deep into the Lightning zone where he would find the stick of an awaiting Bo Horvat. Horvat would fire off a wrist shot that would make its way past Vasilevskiy and into the back of the net. When the final buzzer would sound, these two teams would be headed to overtime.

We would be lying to you if we told you this wasn’t one of the most exciting, yet stressful, overtime periods we’ve experienced all season long. While the Vancouver Canucks would control the puck for a majority of the overtime period, it would be Nikita Kucherov who would find the back of the net and bring home the victory for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Tampa Bay Lightning would come up victorious in both games in their back-to-back weekend, bringing home a much-needed four points. Speaking of points, after bringing home the two points tonight in Vancouver, the Tampa Bay Lightning find themselves in a playoff spot for the first time since November 20^th.

One of the biggest contributors to the Lightning’s victory tonight is their shots on goal. When the final buzzer would sound, the Tampa Bay Lightning would outshoot the Vancouver Canucks 35-23. If the Lightning want to keep bringing home victories this season, they are going to have to continue putting the offensive pressure to their opponents; especially when they go up against teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, who the Lightning face off with on Friday night at the Amalie Arena.

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If the Tampa Bay Lightning can keep their momentum rolling, clean up a few more aspects of their game, and continue bringing home victories, this game may very well serve as the turning point the Tampa Bay Lightning have been so desperately searching for over the last few months.

Much like any game in the National Hockey League, there were plenty of ups and downs in tonight’s East vs. West showdown. At the end of the day, what matters the most is the fact the Tampa Bay Lightning brought home the two points.

It will be interesting to see if the Lightning can keep this momentum rolling. Next up, the Tampa Bay Lightning will head to the Mile High City to face off with captain Gabriel Landeskog and the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night. The puck is scheduled to drop at 9:00 p.m. EST.

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