Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman seals the deal for the Lightning over the Ottawa Senators 2-1 in overtime.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will spend the remainder of the season in a series of “crunch time” situations. As the postseason looms off in the near distance, each game becomes more important than the next; especially when it comes to facing Divisional opponents. This is the exact position the Lightning found themselves in tonight.
After an exciting victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, the Bolts high-tailed it north to the Canadian Tire Centre where were set to take on their Atlantic Division rivals, the Ottawa Senators. The Lightning got off to a rather interesting start; however, this time it played to their strengths.
Just 3:05 into the very first period of play, Lightning forward Brayden Point would pick up right where he left off last night against the Rangers and open up the scoring for the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Senators with amazing rebound off a shot from Lightning defenseman Jake Dotchin.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Early in the second period, the Ottawa Senators would come back with a goal of their own at the hands of forward Tommy Wingels. Of course, this one may have a little more to do with the Lightning defense literally falling down on the job than the acute skill of Wingels.
In any case, this would bring these two teams to one heck of a stalemate. The Tampa Bay Lightning would do an excellent job of controlling the pace in the third period. Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried, the Lightning simply couldn’t solve the puzzle known as Mike Condon.
As the time continued to tick off the clock, Condon continued to make some of the most amazing saves we’ve ever seen. There came a point when one could easily believe Condon had mastered the dark side of the force and become Darth Condon. He deftly yielded his goalie stick like a lightsaber making save after save.
When the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Lightning and Senators would remain tied at one goal apiece. Now, this already heart-pounding game was headed to overtime. Needless to say, many of the fans here in the Bolts Nation needed a defibrillator by this point in the game. Overtime could only make the situation worse.
The thing is, overtime turned out to be a pretty exciting time for Lightning fans. Everything really started to kick into gear in the final minute of overtime. Many fans had already resigned themselves this game was going to be headed to a shootout. Thankfully, the Tampa Bay Lightning were having none of it.
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Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman would relieve Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson of the puck in the Lightning zone. Using his long legs, Hedman would speed towards the neutral zone, where he would pass the puck forward to Lightning forward Ondrej Palat. Palat has been on fire lately when it comes to playmaking.
Once the duo approached the net, Palat would pass the puck towards Hedman like he was carefully threading the head of a needle. Without hesitation, Hedman would pull back his stick and put the puck on the net, which sailed past Mike Condon on his widely exposed stick side and bring the game home for the Bolts.
As we mentioned before, Ondrej Palat has been on fire as of late. Palat has a goal and three assists for a total of four points in his last five games. Over the course of the 62 games he’s played this season with the Bolts, Palat has brought home 14 goals and 22 assists for a total of 36 points.
Right now, Palat is a mere four points away from beating out his numbers from last season. With 13 games left in the regular season, there is a pretty good chance he’ll achieve this goal.
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Speaking of setting records, Victor Hedman is having a career-high season himself. In the 66 games Hedman has played in this season, he has been able to bring home 14 goals and a whopping 45 assists for a total of 59 points.
These numbers place Hedman in first place on the team in assists and second place on the team in overall points. In the grander scheme of things, Hedman is tied for Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane for fourth place in the National Hockey League in assists.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has a tough road in front of them. On Thursday night, the Lightning takes on former Lightning forward Brian Boyle and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Two days later, the Bolts will go head-to-head with Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
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As we mentioned previously, every single point is important right now. All of the teams on the upcoming schedule have the same mission in mind. Needless to say, none of them are going to be very giving when it comes to giving up the two points. The Bolts will definitely need to be on top of their game.