Tampa Bay Lightning Highlights: Brayden Point Tip-In Opens Scoring For Bolts (Video)
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point opens the scoring for the Lightning late in the second period against the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul.
The Tampa Bay Lightning may have spent a majority of their season shrouded in doom and gloom, but over the course of the last few games, the Bolts have proved there is still light at the end of the tunnel. On Tuesday night, the Lightning started their first win streak since before Christmas.
The real question is whether or not the Lightning would be able to expand on their current win streak with a victory over the Minnesota Wild or if the Lightning would fall back on old habits and potentially sink what’s left of their tumultuous season.
Judging by the way the Lightning have been playing thus far, it seems as if the Bolts are determined to keep momentum on their side and build a real winning streak. While the Lightning wasn’t able to strike first blood, they would not head into the intermission trailing their opponents.
Tampa Bay Lightning
While there was plenty of excitement in the first period, one excitement neither team were able to embrace was the excitement of the puck going into the back of the net; however, things were about to change on both sides of the ice.
At 12:42 in the second period, the Tampa Bay Lightning would head to the penalty kill as Lightning forward Brian Boyle would find himself headed to the sin bin off a tripping call against Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon.
Just before the end of the power play, Wild forward Nino Niederreiter would pick up the rebound and find his way through Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy’s five-hole and into the back of the net to open the scoring. Thankfully, the Tampa Bay Lightning weren’t prepared to head quietly into the intermission.
Just under three minutes later, Lightning would strike the Wild and the Bolts would show their fans they weren’t ready to head home just yet. How was the Lightning able to get back in this game so quickly? Selfishness, that’s how.
The Lightning battled for the puck in the offensive zone. Ultimately, it would be Lightning forward Alex Killorn who could get control of the puck. Once away from the chaos, Killorn would send the puck across the ice to defenseman Jason Garrison.
Garrison was almost all the way back by the blueline when he got his stick on the puck. Instead of playing around and making yet another pass, Garrison took the selfish (and smart) route and attempted to put the puck in the back of the net.
Thankfully, Lightning forward Brayden Point was in the perfect position in front of the net. The puck bounces off of the stick of Point and is redirected right through the five-hole of Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk to even the score for the Lightning.
This is where these two teams would find themselves when the buzzer would sound to end the second period of play. While it may not be the best scenario the Lightning could’ve found themselves in heading into the third period, it certainly isn’t the worst.
Brayden Point has proven himself to be one of the biggest surprises of the season. Unlike some of his teammates, Point has never spent a minute in the NHL before the start of the 2016-17 season. Of course, you wouldn’t know that by watching Point on the ice.
In his last five games, including tonight’s current status on St. Paul against the Wild, Point has brought home three goals and an assist for a total of four points. If you take a look at the 40 games Point has played thus far this season, he’s brought home six goals and 12 assists for a total of 18 points.
The scariest thing about a talent like Brayden Point is he hasn’t even had an opportunity to reach his prime yet. Point remains under contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning until the conclusion of the 2018-19 season where he will become a Restricted Free Agent.
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If Point continues to play the way he has this season, he’ll definitely be someone Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman will be looking to lock up in a long-term deal. Only time will tell how this journey will play out, but judging by what we’ve seen, Point will be here in the Bolts Nation for many seasons to come.