Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin emphatically seals the deal for the Bolts in overtime at the Pepsi Center against the Colorado Avalanche.
The Tampa Bay Lightning got off to a bit of a slow start, but before the halfway point in the period, the Bolts seemed to have the situation well in hand. The situation would remain the same until the third period.
Unfortunately, this is when things seemed to take a very wrong turn and the Colorado Avalanche mounted their comeback. With just 42 seconds left in the third period, a goal from Avalanche captain Matt Duchene would force the game into overtime. Needless to say, the Lightning hasn’t had much luck in this particular area.
Thankfully, there was one member of the Tampa Bay Lightning who simply wasn’t having any of it tonight in the Mile High City. The aforementioned player would be Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Things started to get real interesting around the halfway point of the five-minute three-on-three overtime period. Lightning defenseman Jake Dotchin did a good job of keeping the puck in the Lightning’s offensive zone. When coverage was closing in on him, he handed the puck off to Jonathan Drouin.
Drouin was quickly met by Avalanche forward Matt Nieto. It looked as if the 21-year-old Quebec forward was going to be guilty of a potentially game-ending turnover at the hands of Nieto, but without missing a beat, Drouin is able to get the puck back and head towards the Avalanche net.
As Drouin approached the net, he paused for just long enough to get Avalanche netminder Calvin Pickard to commit to a stop when he flipped the script and put the puck in the back of the net.
If you had mentioned to us one year ago we would be looking at Jonathan Drouin as one of the most valuable assets on the team, there is a pretty good chance we would have laughed in your face. At this point last year, Drouin was surrounded in controversy regarding his request to be traded away from the Lightning.
So many things can change inside of a year. Jonathan Drouin was able to get his priorities straight, get his head back in the game, and now he finds himself tied for second place on the team in goals and in third place on the team in overall points.
Drouin is one of three players who are absolutely on fire at the moment. If these guys can continue to work together as a team and consistently bring home points, there is a very good chance the Lightning could find themselves in contention for one of the coveted Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference.
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Getting there is going to take a lot of hard work from each and every member of the team, but if there is any team who can find a way to flourish in the face of adversity, it’s the Tampa Bay Lightning. No matter how this story plays out, the remainder of the regular season is going to be one wild ride.