Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Johnson tips in a shot from defenseman Victor Hedman to open up the scoring against the Buffalo Sabres.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has a very pressing task in front of them tonight. The Lightning is in the midst of taking on the Buffalo Sabres, who as many already know, are Divisional opponents of the Lightning. In other words, bringing home the two points in tonight’s contest is incredibly crucial.
Unfortunately, this first period of play didn’t exactly go as the Lightning would’ve planned. After opening up the game with a solid presence, the Lightning seemed to wither away and allow the Sabres to take control of the game. Then…it happened.
With less than 30 seconds left in the first period of play, the Lightning would find themselves on the first penalty kill of the game as Nikita Kucherov headed to the sin bin for Hooking against Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe. A mere 10 seconds later, the Sabres would open up the scoring with a goal from Ryan O’Reilly.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Thankfully, the closing of a door in the first period allowed the Lightning to open a window in the second period. The Lightning knew if they didn’t change the pace of the game, they would find themselves in a precarious position when the final buzzer sounds. In other words, the Lightning was ready for a change of pace.
This is where Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Johnson comes into play.
Let’s rewind a few moments here. Every good story starts at the beginning, right? So…it would be Tyler Johnson who would win the faceoff in the Sabres zone against Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues. Quickly, Nikita Kucherov would get a piece of the puck and send it across the ice to Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.
Hedman hesitated for a single second before putting the puck on the net. Thankfully, in between Hedman and the goal was Lightning forward Tyler Johnson. The puck directly hit Johnson’s stick and went right into the back of the net past Sabres netminder Robin Lehner.
Tyler Johnson’s 19th goal of the season couldn’t possibly come at a better time for the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning needed a spark to get into the game, and the opening minutes of the period is the perfect time to get things started.
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There is still plenty of hockey to be played between these two teams tonight. If the remainder of the second period stays on the same track as the first two and a half, the Lightning may be able to right the ship and get back on track towards making their way to postseason play.