Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ondrej Palat buries the feed from Brayden Point to kick off the second period against the Winnipeg Jets at the MTS Centre.
The Tampa Bay Lightning may have spent most of the 2016-17 season attempting to make their way out of a very deep hole they created for themselves, but over the course of the last few games, the Bolts have proven there is still life in this ailing team and they’re not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
Tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning made their way to the MTS Centre to take on the Winnipeg Jets in the final part of their back-to-back weekend series. While the Lightning was able to bring home a point on Friday night, the Bolts seemed dead set on bringing home the two points against the Jets.
As the Lightning made their way into the second period, they found themselves with a 2-0 lead over the Jets. Under previous circumstances, this would be the point in the game when Lightning fans would begin to worry if their favorite team would be able to hold onto their lead for the remainder of the game.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Thankfully, the Tampa Bay Lightning had no intentions of backing down in the great, white, north. In fact, the Lightning got down to business pretty quickly once the puck dropped to start off the second period.
The play pretty well picked up in the neutral zone where Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin would get possession of the puck. Just before making his way out of the neutral zone, Drouin would pass the puck forward to Ondrej Palat. Wasting no time, Palat sped into the offensive zone.
As Palat sped toward the net, he would be met by Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey. Unfortunately for Morrissey, Palat was not about to be stopped. Palat quickly fired the puck towards the glove hand side of Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and into the back of the net to give the Bolts a 3-0 lead over the Jets.
Ondrej Palat is far from having the career-high season he had in the 2014-15 season, but he finally seems to be finding his place in the lineup this season. In the last five games has picked up a goal and two assists for a total of three points. In the 49 games he’s played this season, the 25-year-old Czech forward has brought home 11 goals and 16 assists for a total of 27 points.
The remainder of this season will be very telling for the future of a young Ondrej Palat. As most Lightning fans know by now, at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season Palat will become a Restricted Free Agent. Given the current cap situation the Lightning are faced with right now, there are a lot of difficult decisions that need to be made by Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman.
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It may have taken a while for Palat to find his groove situation, but there is an old saying that applies here, “Better late than never.” There is still plenty of hockey left to play this season, and if the Tampa Bay Lightning continue to play with the same amount of tenacity and grit they have over the course of the last few games, there is a good chance the team can salvage what’s left of their season and make a run for the postseason.