Tampa Bay Lightning Shoot Down Anaheim Ducks

The Tampa Bay Lightning kept their momentum rolling as they absolutely dominated the Anaheim Ducks in a 5-0 shutout win tonight at the Amalie Arena.

The Tampa Bay Lightning knew coming into tonight’s encounter they had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. After finally finding some semblance of consistency in the Lightning’s 2-1 win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night, the Lightning were hoping to keep the momentum rolling in their favor as they defended the Amalie Arena against their Western Conference opponents, the Anaheim Ducks.

Not only did the Tampa Bay Lightning keep the momentum rolling in their favor, but they absolutely dominated the Anaheim Ducks with a 5-0 shutout win. This certainly serves as an amazing birthday present for Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Ben Bishop, who turned twenty nine years old today.

The Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t get the same stellar start tonight they did on Thursday night against the Rangers, the Lightning were still able to hold their own on the ice. One of the more interesting moments of the evening was the scrap between Lightning defenseman Luke Witkowski and Ducks right wing Chris Stewart as they threw down on the ice. Both Witkowski and Stewart would be penalized on the play, but Witkowski would get the extra 2 mins for Unsportsmanlike Conduct, so the Ducks would get the first Power Play of the night.

It wasn’t until the buzzer sounded and the players took the ice for the second period that things seemed to really turn around for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Joel Vermin would register his first ever NHL point with an assist just before the six minute mark in the second period.

Vermin would play the puck into the Ducks’ zone. After a failed pass ricocheted off of Ducks defenseman Kevin Bieksa, Vermin would play the puck behind the net before handing it off to Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr. Sustr would send the puck flying to Nikita Kucherov, who was centered perfectly in front of the net. The rest is what we call history. While this would ultimately be the Game Winning Goal, this was certainly not the last goal the Tampa Bay Lightning would score tonight.

Just over six minutes after the Kucherov goal, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos would register his 10^th goal of the season to extend the Tampa Bay Lightning’s lead to two points. Never satisfied with mere mediocrity, Stamkos knew there was more work to be done. Just over a minute later, while the Tampa Bay Lightning would find themselves on the Power Play, Stamkos would fire off another one to extend the Bolts’ lead to three.

As the minutes continued to tick off the clock, the Anaheim Ducks were getting visibly frustrated in the way the game was unfolding. This resulted in quite a bit of pushing and shoving, which ended with a total of five separate penalties being handed out. Thankfully for the Lightning, they would come out on the winning end of this one and take another shot at the Power Play.

The third period of play went just about the same way as the previous twenty minutes of play. Just 5:29 into the third period, Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Boyle would rub a healthy dose of salt into the gaping wound in the Anaheim Ducks’ game. The Bolts would battle for the puck in the offensive zone when Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen would lose his footing and surrender the puck to Lightning right wing J.T. Brown.

Brown would take the puck behind the net and skillfully hand it off to a ready, willing, and able Brian Boyle, who was on his way down to one knee. Never missing a beat, Boyle would fire off the puck and it would fly right past Ducks netminder Frederik Andersen and into the back of the net.

At this point, the Tampa Bay Lightning had to feel like someone broke out their old school Nintendo Entertainment System and started a good, old fashioned game of Duck Hunt.

Once again, this would not be the final time Tampa Bay Lightning fans would watch the teslas crackle with energy tonight. Just about the halfway point in the third period, the Tampa Bay Lightning would find themselves with the man advantage once again as Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler would head to the box for two minutes for Holding Jonathan Marchessault.

Ironically enough, it would be Marchessault who would dig the knife deeper into the heart of the Anaheim Ducks as he scored his first goal of the season to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a decisive 5-0 shutout win on the same night we celebrate the birth of Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Ben Bishop.

Here is a look at a few notes from tonight’s 5-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks.

• Once again, J.T. Brown continues to impress as he registered the lone assist on the Brian Boyle goal in the opening minutes of the third period. At one point, it seemed as if this could be a make or break season for Brown, who has seemingly struggled to find his groove since making his way to the Lightning’s main roster. Now, he is playing like he really wants to (and deserves) to be here.
• The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Power Play sprang into action tonight, capitalizing on two of the four opportunities with the man advantage they were presented tonight. While this doesn’t place them at the top of the league in this category, it is certainly leaps and bounds improved from the struggles from earlier in the season.
• Tonight’s game was a huge stride in the right direction for the Tampa Bay Lightning. As we mentioned before, we felt as if the Lightning’s 2-1 win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night was the catalyst the Lightning needed to get back on track. Considering the way they played tonight against Anaheim, it seems as if the Bolts have found their groove and are ready to make their way back to the top of the NHL.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has one game remaining in their three-game home stand before they head back out on the road. On Wednesday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be in the presence of royalty as the Los Angeles Kings roll into town looking to put an end to the Lightning’s new win streak.

The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. Make sure to stay connected right here to Bolts By The Bay as we bring you all the latest Tampa Bay Lightning, news, updates, commentary, and more.