The Tampa Bay Lightning snap a four-game losing streak by mounting an exciting 4-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on night one of their back-to-back series.
When the puck dropped tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning found themselves in the midst of a four-game losing streak. Having already passed the halfway point in the season, the time for excuses had passed. If the Lightning had any hopes at all of making the postseason, they would have to find a way to win.
Thankfully, the Tampa Bay Lightning received some rather good news before taking the ice to do battle with the Buffalo Sabres. For the first time in many games, the Lightning would be getting more players back in the lineup than they would lose on any given night.
Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop would make his return to the ice just three weeks and two days after suffering a Lower-Body Injury that was supposed to sideline him for three to four weeks. In addition to Ben Bishop, the Lightning would also get back forward Brian Boyle and defenseman Braydon Coburn.
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Needless to say, it’s an “all hands on deck” kind of night for the Bolts. If the Lightning wanted to emerge victoriously against a team like the Buffalo Sabres, who were on a two-game winning streak, they would have to play a consistent 60 minutes of hockey and continually dictate the pace of the game.
Unfortunately, the Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t quite get off to the start one would’ve hoped for. Much like every other game the Lightning have played over the last couple of weeks, the Buffalo Sabres would be the first to get on the board.
It would be Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons who would get ahold of the puck coming out of the neutral zone. One-handed, he would pass the puck across the front of the net to the waiting stick of Sabres forward Matt Moulson. Moulson completely blew the Lightning’s defense and put the puck past Bishop and into the back of the net.
Thankfully, the Tampa Bay Lightning seemed determined to get back on the right track. Moments later, the Sabres would find themselves short-handed as forward Kyle Okposo would head to the sin bin for Slashing against Nikita Kucherov.
This opened the door for Jonathan Drouin, Tyler Johnson, and Ondrej Palat to work their magic. A simple, yet effective, tic-tac-toe pass would earn Palat his eighth goal of the season and tie things up for the Bolts early in the first period.
On the bright side, for the first time in what felt like forever, the Lightning would head into the first intermission without trailing their opponent. In addition to this, the Bolts essentially dictated the pace of the period. The Lightning would outshoot the Sabres 9-5 in the first.
The only thing keeping the first period from being a total success was the temporary lack of defense which led to the Moulson goal. Other than that, the Lightning played a pretty solid first period of hockey. The question would become, could they continue this play into the second period.
Good news for Lightning fans…the second period was essentially all about the Tampa Bay Lightning. Things would kick into high gear early for the Lightning. In fact, it was just over five minutes into the second period when Lightning would strike.
The Lightning was fighting for possession of the puck in the offensive zone. It would be Nikita Kucherov who would get a handle on the puck and send it back to Vladislav Namestnikov in the center. Quickly, Vladdy would get the puck across to Ondrej Palat, who would pick up his second goal of the night to take the lead for the Lightning.
The Lightning would have to wait until just after the halfway point in the second period before they would light the lamps again. This time, it would be Palat’s linemate Nikita Kucherov who would beat Sabres netminder Anders Nilsson and put the puck in the back of the net.
Things got a little heated at the end of the second period. Apparently, as the buzzer sounded to end the period Ben Bishop said something Marcus Foligno didn’t like. As you can imagine, Foligno took exception to this and retaliated. Having none of this, Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman jumped in to take care of business.
When the gloves first dropped, Foligno had a decided advantage over Hedman; however, as things progressed it became clear who the real victor of the fight would be. (No pun intended.) Of course, despite who won the on-ice battle, both players would be headed to the sin bin at the start of the third period.
Now, let’s get back to non-fight-related business. When the buzzer sounded to end the second period of play, the Lightning would lead the Sabres 3-1. This time, the Sabres would gain a little ground in terms of shots on goal, outshooting the Bolts 9-8 for a two-period total of 17-15 in favor of the Bolts.
Up until this point, the Lightning had not only made it through 40 minutes of play without trailing their opponent at the intermission, but they have consistently played like a team who truly wanted to win a hockey game. They were working together like the well-oiled machine they once were.
Now, the Lightning were approaching the point in the game where they would be tested the most. Could the Tampa Bay Lightning hold on for the final 30 minutes of play and prevent the Sabres from mounting a rally in the third period? Only time would tell.
The Sabres would start off the scoring in the third period. Surprisingly enough, it all started off with a save by Ben Bishop. Bishop would come up with a huge save. Unfortunately, in the course of making said save, Bishop’s goaltending stick would fly out of his hands and across the ice.
Before anyone knew what happened, Sabres forward Jack Eichel would set up Evander Kane in front of the net. All it took was a tap of Kane’s stick and the puck was past Bishop and into the back of the net. If there was anything we could call out Bishop on in tonight’s matchup, this would be his one shortcoming.
As if this wasn’t enough to make the Lightning hot under the collar, a ridiculous call from the referees would light a fire inside Ben Bishop Lightning fans hadn’t seen in a while. As the puck was being played behind the net, the net was knocked off its molding. Unfortunately, all the referee saw was Bishop colliding with the net.
As you can imagine, the referee would call Bishop for Delay of Game and give the Buffalo Sabres an opportunity with the man advantage. No matter how much Bishop attempted to plead his case with the referees, they were having none of it. It was a soft call, at best, but there was little Bishop could do about it.
Things would continue to heat up as the game progressed. Apparently, the Sabres were looking for some retribution for the high stick to Ryan O’Reilly at the hands of Ben Bishop around the halfway point in the second period.
At 17:43 in the third period, Evander Kane took a swipe at Ben Bishop. The chaos that ensued following the incident resulted in Kane received a penalty for High Sticking, one for Unsportsmanlike Conduct, and a Game Misconduct. Unfortunately for the Sabres, this penalty would all but seal their fate.
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With just 18 seconds left in the game, Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman would hit the empty Sabres net to bring the score to 4-2 in favor of the Tampa Bay Lightning. This would be where the night would end. The Tampa Bay Lightning would snap their four-game losing streak and send the Sabres home with a loss.
This was the kind of play fans had been looking for from the Tampa Bay Lightning for quite some time. The Bolts did a good job of putting pressure on the opposing netminder and creating scoring chances, with the exception of one unfortunate play, the defense would play much better, and the team would work as one.
The only real downside here is the Lightning don’t have much time to celebrate their much-needed win. Tomorrow night, the Lightning get back to business once again as they play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
When the Lightning head back into the Amalie Arena tomorrow night, the team and their fans will pay tribute to one of the most memorable players to ever put on a Tampa Bay Lightning Jersey. Before the puck drops, the Lightning will officially retire the number of former Lightning captain Martin St. Louis.
There is no denying it is going to be an emotional night for everyone in attendance. This puts a little bit of added pressure on the team to keep the momentum rolling in their favor on such a special night. The Lightning have everything they need to get the job done. The only thing left if for them to simply do it.
Martin St. Louis’ jersey retirement ceremony will start promptly at 6:30. In addition to St. Louis himself, Lightning fans will hear from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Lightning Owner Jeff Vinik, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, and many more. Following the ceremony, the puck will drop at approximately 8:00 p.m.
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It will definitely be an emotional night for all. Hopefully, the Bolts can make it that much better by bringing home a much-needed two points before heading out on their upcoming West Coast road trip.