Cedric Paquette Powers Tampa Bay Lightning Back Into First Place

After a less than stellar performance Tuesday night in Carolina, the Tampa Bay Lightning headed back home for a premier matchup with the red-hot Detroit Red Wings. It was a challenge to be sure, but that didn’t matter.

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Mission accomplished, courtesy of Cedric Paquette. The talented rookie notched a hat trick within the game’s first 30 minutes, helping to propel the Bolts to a dominant 5-1 win.

Early on, there was no doubting this was a game pitting two of the Atlantic Division’s best against one another. The first period featured an even number of shots and lots of tight-checking.

Nearly two minutes in, the Lightning got a scoring opportunity when Jason Garrison let go of a bomb from the point that Paquette tried to deflect past Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek. Then, breaking a bad habit from recent games, he waited to see if a rebound would pop loose. It did, and the 21-year-old made no mistake in burying it for an early 1-0 lead.

The Red Wings weren’t going away though. Approximately ten minutes later, Darren Helm caught the defense so far out of position he literally walked around the net before placing a perfect shot behind Ben Bishop.

Back on even terms, the teams seemed content to play solid defense for the remainder of period 1 unless an opportunity presented itself. Luckily for the Lightning, some good puck retrieval by the newly formed third line of Alex Killorn, Jonathan Drouin and Paquette produced a glorious scoring chance.

With 37 seconds remaining before the intermission, Paquette took a pinpoint accurate pass from Drouin and rifled a shot top corner. It was 2-1 Lightning and things were looking better.

In a sort of role reversal, the Tampa Bay Lightning came out with more urgency and fire in their bellies during the middle frame. Mrazek and the Red Wings had few answers, allowing three goals on seven shots to turn a close game into a semi-blowout.

Special teams started things off. Less than a minute into the nights first power play, Steven Stamkos took a great pass from Anton Stralman in his sweet spot and easily beat Mrazek to make it 3-1. Paquette followed that up with a 2-on-1 shorthanded which he roofed past the Wings goalie to complete his first career hat trick.

Mark Barberio finished things off, scoring his first goal of the season late in period 2 to complete the onslaught.

The Red Wings pulled Mrazek after two periods, inserting youngster Tom McCollum. The former backup for AHL Grand Rapids, up with both normal goaltenders out injured, shined. He made a perfect 17 saves, but thanks to Bishop and an incredible commitment to team defense the Lightning emerged victorious.

It’s important to note this win set a new franchise record for consecutive home ice victories in one season. More importantly, however, the Bolts regained first place in both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference with 66 points through 50 games played.

A win like this doesn’t usually come with critiquing, but being the critic that I am I’ll go ahead and say that as good as the young defenseman have been there’s still room for improvement. Same goes for Drouin. The highly touted rookie had probably his best game of the season tonight, yet his turnover at the blue line in a tie game sprung a 2-on-0 that if not for Bishop could have changed the course of things.

Plenty of good came from this game as well. The power play finally woke up from its extended slumber, helping to really shift momentum in the Lightning’s favor. The Bolts didn’t back down when the Wings began taking liberties with certain players. They shot the puck more often than passing, something that had to be a welcome sight to coach Jon Cooper and those fans who often go hoarse screaming “SHOOT. THE. PUCK!”

Moving forward, the Tampa Bay Lightning need to take the blueprint from tonight’s game and replicate it against Nick Foligno, Ryan Johansen and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Puck drop’s set for 7:30 p.m. (Thank you Gasparilla!)

What are your thoughts regarding the Tampa Bay Lightning’s commanding win over the Detroit Red Wings? Do you think this might be a turning point offensively for Cedric Paquette? Is this the type of game that really opens eyes around the league? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

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