Tampa Bay Lightning Triumph Over Injury And Defeat Penguins In Game 1

The Tampa Bay Lightning were pounded with injuries throughout the game, but were able to forge on and defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.

The Tampa Bay Lightning knew they were in for a fight as they charged into the Consol Energy Center tonight as they prepared to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the 2016 Eastern Conference Final. The Penguins have pretty loyal fans who want nothing more than to see their team move on to the next round and are rather vocal about their intentions.

The good news is, the Tampa Bay Lightning took the ice with a fire in their souls as they quickly charged Penguins goaltender Matt Murray and made their presence known on the ice. Unfortunately, the momentum would make a massive swing just over two minutes into the period.

Tampa Bay Lightning alternate captain Ryan Callahan would chase Penguins defenseman Kris Letang as he attempted to play the puck. Letang clearly saw Callahan coming up on him quickly and decided he was going to turn his back to Callahan. This resulted in Ryan Callahan driving Letang into the boards. As you can imagine, Letang went down hard on the play and Callahan was sent to the sin-bin for five minutes.

Many Tampa Bay Lightning fans are divided on the hit. There are some who believe Callahan should have let up on the hit while others believe that Kris Letang knew Callahan was coming and intentionally turned into Callahan’s hit to draw the penalty. No matter which side you are on, the end result is Ryan Callahan has handed a five-minute major for the hit and may be reviewed by the NHL Department of Player Safety.

Just when the Tampa Bay Lightning thought they had swung momentum back in their direction, all the air deflated out of their balloon like it had been stricken by the lightning bolt of Zeus himself. In an unfortunate series of horrible events, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop took a nasty fall after playing the puck to the side of the net, and eventually had to be stretchered off the ice.

As you can imagine, taking Bishop’s place between the pipes was Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Big Ben has some pretty big skates to fill, but if there is anyone who can get the job done, it’s Andrei Vasilevskiy.

It may have taken the Tampa Bay Lightning until the final minutes of the first period, but it would be the Bolts who would draw first blood. A backhander from Alex Killorn would sail past Penguins netminder Matt Murray and into the back of the net. The lone assist on the goal would be awarded to defenseman Victor Hedman.

Unfortunately, before the first period would come to an end, yet another Tampa Bay Lightning player would make their way to the Lightning locker room with an injury. After being drilled into the boards by Penguins left wing Chris Kunitz, Lightning center Tyler Johnson would eventually make his way to his skates. Unfortunately, there would be no stop at the Tampa Bay Lightning bench. Rather, he would join Bishop in the locker room.

When the Tampa Bay Lightning hit the ice for the second period of play, they wasted no time in making a statement. Just under two minutes into the second period, Penguins center Evgeni Malkin would be sent to the sin bin for two minutes for Hooking defenseman Victor Hedman. The Lightning would capitalize on the man advantage with a goal from Ondrej Palat with assists to Valtteri Filppula and Jason Garrison.

The good news for the Tampa Bay Lightning is that just past the halfway point in the second period, Lightning center Tyler Johnson was able to rejoin his teammates on the Lightning bench. This allowed for a deep sigh of relief from Tampa Bay Lightning fans here and around the Bolts Nation.

Related Story: Ben Bishop Stretchered Off The Ice In Game 1 (Video)

There would be a lot of back and forth between these two teams over the course of the second period, but neither side seemed to be able to make a successful move on the other for a good portion of the period. It wasn’t until 18:25 when Jonathan Drouin would score his 2^nd goal of the postseason to extend the Lightning’s lead over the Penguins to three goals.

As you can imagine, the Penguins couldn’t simply take this lying down. With a little less than two minutes left in the period, the Lightning would find themselves down a man as Victor Hedman headed to the box for two minutes thanks to a trip against left wing Conor Sheary. It would be Penguins right wing Patric Hornqvist who would get the Pens on the board with assists from Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel.

The Pittsburgh Penguins would give the Tampa Bay Lightning everything they had in the third period, outshooting the Lightning 14-5 in the final frame, but Andrei Vasilevskiy and the rest of the Tampa Bay Lightning would emerge victorious, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.

The Tampa Bay Lightning did have their share of offensive and defensive struggles over the course of the game, but that comes when two of your key players get railed and end up in the locker room before the halfway point in the game. The good news is the Lightning are resilient and have always found a way to overcome all manner of adversity put in their way.

At this point and time, it is unknown how severe the injury to Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop actually is, but we’re sure as the night goes on we’ll get some sort of an update from the Tampa Bay Lightning. If we had to make an educated guess, we’d bet we see Vasilevskiy in net on Monday night in Game 2.

Next: 5 Things The Lightning Learned From Round 2

Despite their struggles tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning refused to back down and were able to silence a good portion of their haters as they start the series off with a bang. As we mentioned before, these two teams will make their way back into the Consol Energy Center on Monday night for Game 2. If the Lightning continue to play the way they did tonight, the series will be heading back to Tampa Bay in a great position.