Tampa Bay Lightning forward Vladislav Namestnikov makes a critical save early in the second period, unfortunately, it came at quite a cost.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has to be the most injury-ridden team in the National Hockey League this season. In addition to having two of their most valuable players, and their leadership core, relegated to the sidelines, the Lightning has seen player after player make their way to the injured list.
Tonight, the Lightning embarked on the first of their final three games of the season as they charged into the American Airlines Centre to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. After the team’s performance at the TD Garden in Boston, this game has quickly evolved into a must-win situation for the Bolts.
So, you can imagine the kind of intensity which has surrounded the game since the very moment the puck dropped at the center of the ice. After a scoreless first period of play, the Lightning was in all-out attack mode when the second period of play kicked into action.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Unfortunately, there was one player in particular who paid quite a high price in the name of “taking one for the team.” This player was Tampa Bay Lightning forward Vladislav Namestnikov.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were fighting to keep possession of the puck in the Lightning’s defensive zone. Leafs defenseman was able to keep the puck in the zone. Quickly, he would hand the puck off to forward Auston Matthews. Matthews, who has been a tremendous asset to the Maple Leafs this season sent the puck towards the goal.
Maple Leafs alternate captain Leo Komarov would find himself in front of the net in the perfect position to redirect the puck in front of the net to Maple Leafs forward William Nylander. Now, while all of this is playing out on the ice, Lightning forward Vladislav Namestnikov is doing his best to break up the play.
Unfortunately, Namestnikov finds himself tumbling to the ice. This serves as both a good and bad thing. The bright side is Vladdy was able to block the shot from making its way to goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, and eventually, into the back of the net. The bad news is, Vladdy blocked the shot with his pretty face.
Needless to say, the result of the incident was pretty gnarly. The good news is, Namestnikov was able to make it off the ice without the need of assistance. In addition to this, he was able to remain on the bench while being treated by Lightning Head Athletic Trainer Tom Mulligan.
While this ultimately turned out to be a win for the Tampa Bay Lightning, it definitely came with great sacrifice. The one thing we can assure you with absolute certainty is Vladdy probably had one hell of a headache for the remainder of the game.
As we mentioned before, the Tampa Bay Lightning finds themselves in a very crucial, must-win situation tonight. If Toronto leaves the ice tonight with even one point, the Lightning can essentially kiss any hopes they have of a postseason run goodbye.
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Judging by the way they have been playing thus far, we are pretty certain the Tampa Bay Lightning will not be leaving the Air Canada Centre empty-handed tonight if it’s the last thing they do. Thankfully, the Lightning still has Namestnikov in the lineup and wasn’t forced to face this particular challenge with a man down.