Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin opens up the scoring for the Lightning in what would be an exciting night of hockey against the Los Angeles Kings.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has been on quite the journey this season. There have been a lot of ups and downs for the team and their fans, and while the downs have occupied much of the season, the Lightning has dug deep and found a way to reignite the spark in the hearts of Bolts fans.
After a heart-pounding win over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning had a serious challenge in front of them? Could they finally create a real win streak or was their win over the Ducks nothing more than a flash in the pan? This is a question which would be answered tonight.
The Tampa Bay Lightning played host to the Los Angeles Kings in their second and final meeting of the season. If the Lightning could pull out a victory over the Kings, they could prove they have what it takes to salvage their season. If not, Lightning fans would lose what little faith they had left in the season.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Thankfully, the Lightning seemed dead set on making sure the Bolts Nation kept the faith. The first step in achieving this took place thanks to the one and only Jonathan Drouin.
Drouin took possession of the puck in the Lightning’s defensive zone. With little to no opposition, Drouin made his way into and through the neutral zone with the puck. Once into the offensive zone, he was able to deftly make his way through Kings forward Tyler Toffoli and defenseman Paul LaDue.
Once into the offensive zone, he was able to deftly make his way through Kings forward Tyler Toffoli and defenseman Paul LaDue.
Hesitation be damned, Drouin pulled back his stick and fired on the wide open glove-hand side of Kings netminder Peter Budaj, putting the puck in the back of the net and sounding the goal horn for the Bolts.
If you told me one year ago today Jonathan Drouin would be making a real and positive impact on the Lightning right now, I would’ve laughed hysterically in your face. It was at this point last season when Drouin was suspended indefinitely by the Bolts after acting like a spoiled child and no-showing a Syracuse Crunch game against the Toronto Marlies in protest of his “current treatment.”
As we said back then, Jonathan Drouin would have a long road to redemption. Thankfully, this is one of those instances where we are incredibly happy we were wrong. The 21-year-old Quebec native has worked incredibly hard to get to where he is right now, and his dedication clearly shows.
Drouin has picked up two goals and two assists in the last five games. One of those goals and one of those assists both came in tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Kings. In the 46 games he’s played so far this season, Drouin has brought home 16 goals and 18 assists for a total of 34 points.
These numbers place Jonathan Drouin in a three-way tie for second place on the team in goals and third place on the team in overall points. Not bad for someone who seemed to be on the way out just one season ago.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning still have a long way to go if they want to salvage their season, but if the way the team has been playing over the course of the last two games has been any indication, they are definitely on the right track. As one particularly excited Bolts fan, we can’t wait to see what happens next.