Tampa Bay Lightning Highlights: Ondrej Palat Deflection Seals The Deal For Bolts (Video)
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ondrej Palat’s deflection of a shot from defenseman Andrej Sustr sealed the deal for the Bolts in the third period against the Florida Panthers.
There is no denying, both the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers had a lot on the line tonight, as the two in-state rivals battled it out at the Amalie Arena in Tampa. Both the Lightning and the Panthers are fighting for their postseason lives as the final weeks of the 2016-17 Season forge on.
The Panthers ended the first period of play with the upper hand over the Bolts, but once the teams returned to the ice for the second period of play, things took an interesting, and incredibly beneficial (for the Lightning, that is) turn. This game had quickly morphed into a battle of which team truly wanted the win more.
Unfortunately, time was running out if the Lightning wanted to finish this Sunshine State battle in regulation. If the Bolts planned on making their move, the time was upon them. Of course, the Lightning would have to outplay a Florida Panthers team who needs the two points as much as they do.
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This is where we find ourselves. Less than three minutes remained on the clock in regulation time. The Lightning was fighting for puck possession in the neutral zone. Finally, it was Lightning forward Ondrej Palat who would get ahold of the puck and fire it through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone.
The puck would collide with the end boards to the left of the Panthers net. After the initial collision, the puck would speed around the end boards and back around to the waiting stick of Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr. Sustr, who was positioned back by the blueline, wasted no time in sending the puck flying to the net.
Miraculously, the puck would deflect off the bottom of the shaft of the stick of Ondrej Palat. Thankfully, this deflection would cause the puck to sail past the glove-hand side of Panthers netminder James Reimer and into the back of the net. This would be exactly what the Tampa Bay Lightning would need to seal the deal.
The Florida Panthers would do all they could over the course of the next 2:23 to rally and force this game into overtime, but it simply wasn’t meant to be. The will and sheer determination of the Tampa Bay Lightning had shone through and got the job done when it matters the most.
The deflection from Ondrej Palat served to be Palat’s 14th goal of the season. Palat has a goal and an assist in his last five games. The assist came on Thursday night as the Lightning deftly defeated the Minnesota Wild. In the 60 games he’s played this season, Palat has scored 14 goals and 20 assists for a total of 34 points.
Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr has really been stepping up offensively as well. Much like Palat, Sustr has both a goal and an assist in his last two games. Opposite of Palat, Sustr’s goal came at the expense of the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.
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If ever there was a time when the Tampa Bay Lightning needed to come together as a team and play off one another’s strengths, this time is now. Thankfully, judging by the way the team has been playing over the course of the last month and a half, the Lightning knows this and has everything well in hand.