Tampa Bay Lightning Snap Losing Streak With Victory Over Blackhawks

By Tasha St. Pierre |

Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Final. 2. 94. 5. 23

The Tampa Bay Lightning snapped their three-game losing streak with a solid 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.

The Tampa Bay Lightning were faced with a tough challenge tonight as they kicked off the back half of their current six-game road trip through the Western Conference. Having reached a turning point in the season, the Bolts desperately need to pick up at least half of the available points on this trip if they want to remain viable.

Unfortunately, with the way things played out in the first half of the road trip, the Lightning would basically need to win out the remaining games in the series in regulation to have any hope of gaining ground in the Atlantic Division, let alone the league.

Of course, no good story ever comes without its fair share of adversity. The Tampa Bay Lightning were faced with plenty of the aforementioned adversity tonight as they made their way into the United Center to take on captain Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks.

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This is the first of two times these two teams will meet this season.

As usual, the game didn’t exactly start out the way the Tampa Bay Lightning or their fans would’ve hoped for. Just past the halfway point in the period, Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy would completely overcompensate on a play, leaving the net wide open for Jonathan Toews to open the scoring for the Hawks.

Thankfully, the Lightning would not enter the intermission trailing the Blackhawks. With the final minutes ticking off the clock in the first period, Brian Boyle would make a solid hit in the neutral zone before receiving a pass from Valtteri Filppula. Boyle noticed the Blackhawks defense spread too far and chooses to capitalize.

Brian Boyle drove the puck through the neutral zone and right in front of the net where he would drill the puck past Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford and into the back of the net. Boyle deserves an award for this goal; especially considering the manner in which he stuck the landing.

There was no clear victor in the first period. Both the Lightning and the Blackhawks were offensively strong in the first period. The slight advantage goes to the Blackhawks, who outshot the Bolts by a mere 11-10 in the first period. Of course, this was only the beginning of what would become a rather interesting night of hockey.

When these two teams hit the ice for the second period of play, the Blackhawks did a good job of taking some of the wind out of the Lightning’s sails. Just 1:26 into the second period, Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith would fire off a shot and retake the lead for the Chicago Blackhawks.

At this point, many Tampa Bay Lightning fans began to lose hope. Honestly, who could blame them? The Lightning has been notorious lately when it comes to giving the fans a sense of hope that would ultimately be yanked away later in the game by overly relaxed play.

The tide would ever-so-slightly turn in the second period; however, it would not become apparent on the scoreboard. When the two teams would make their way to the locker room for the second intermission, the Lightning would trail the Blackhawks 2-1.

As for the shift in the tide, the Lightning would manage to outshoot the Hawks in the second period, even if it was only by a single shot on goal. The Lightning outshot the Hawks 12-11 in the second for a two-period total 22 shots on goal each.

Surprisingly enough, the third period would be all about the Tampa Bay Lightning. Even more surprising, the spark the Lightning needed would come from the stick of Lightning defenseman Nikita Nesterov. Just 2:47 into the third period, the Lightning would prove just how valuable winning the faceoff really is.

The faceoff was in the Lightning’s offensive zone. Brian Boyle cleanly won the faceoff, sending the puck almost directly to Nikita Nesterov. Wasting no time, Nesterov fired off the puck and once again tied the game for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Thankfully, the Lightning wasn’t exactly done there.

In a mere 30 seconds, Lightning forward Tyler Johnson would hit the back of the net not once, but twice. Alex Killorn received assists on both of Johnson’s goals while Valtteri Filppula picked up the secondary assist on the first goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy picked up the secondary on the second goal.

The Chicago Blackhawks did everything within their power to attempt to retake control of the game, including pulling netminder Corey Crawford in order to get another attacker on the ice. Unfortunately for the Hawks, this plan ultimately backfired on them.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made a really good save, which sent the puck flying back into the defensive zone. All it took was a simple pass gone wrong to result in a turnover and it was off to the races for Nikita Kucherov. Once he realized he was all alone, Kucherov sauntered to the net and tapped it in to make it 5-2 Bolts.

While there were still a few holes in their play, this was one of the best games the Lightning have played in quite some time. The real test will come on Thursday night when the Lightning makes their way back to the Sunshine State with a stop at the BB&T Center to face the Florida Panthers.

Next: Lightning Face Tough Challenge In Back Half Of Road Trip

If the Lightning can maintain the same level of play against the Panthers they did tonight against the Blackhawks, the Bolts may just be able to salvage what’s left of their season. Unfortunately, if they end up reverting back to their old habits, they will quickly find themselves on the outside looking in.

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