Tampa Bay Lightning Highlights: Victor Hedman Picks Up No. 10 In The Second (Video)
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman picks up his second goal of the night, and 10th of the season, in the second period against the Dallas Stars.
The Tampa Bay Lightning started off tonight’s encounter in a serious high note. By the halfway point in the first period, the Lightning found themselves with a 2-0 lead over the Dallas Stars. Unfortunately, when these two teams would head to the locker room for the first intermission, they would find themselves tied at two.
After Tyler Johnson capitalized on the Lightning’s Power Play opportunity to pick up his 17th goal of the season, the Dallas Stars would respond with two unanswered goals from Stars forward Antoine Roussel. Obviously, this did not sit well with the Lightning or their fans.
It took a little bit for the Tampa Bay Lightning to get their footing in the second period, but the Bolts were able to overcome and get themselves on the board once again. Much like the Johnson goal in the first period, the Lightning’s next opportunity would come on the Power Play.
Tampa Bay Lightning
At 9:01 in the second period, the Lightning would be faced with their second Power Play opportunity of the night as Dallas forward Devin Shore would find himself headed to the penalty box for Holding against Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov. Now, here’s where things get interesting.
It all starts when Lightning forward Ondrej Palat brings the puck out of the neutral zone. Just after he makes his way into the offensive zone, he realizes he’s too tightly covered to make a move of his own. So, what does he do next? He sends the puck across the ice to his linemate Tyler Johnson.
Johnson attempts to carry the puck towards the net but somehow manages to lose his footing. Using his keen situational awareness, he is able to make a pass back to Victor Hedman. Much like the first time Hedman found himself with a prime scoring chance, he wasted no time in pulling back his stick.
What happened next? Well…
Victor Hedman would pick up his second goal of the night, and his 10th goal of the season, to give the Lightning the go-ahead. Once again, the Lightning used their speed, puck handling ability, and aggressiveness with the puck in order to get the job done.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has had their fair share of issues this season, one of which has been overpassing the puck. Thankfully, ever since the Lightning found their groove on February 4th in their 3-2 shootout victory over the Anaheim Ducks, the Bolts have been much more selfish with the puck.
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There is no doubt the Tampa Bay Lightning have a long road in front of them. The Bolts are still six points out of the second wild card spot, and if they have any hopes of surpassing the Boston Bruins for the coveted spot in the postseason, every point counts from here on out. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.