Tampa Bay Lightning: Home Streak Ends Against Philadelphia Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 after Peter Budaj leaves the game with an apparent left leg injury.

Peter Budaj and the Lightning are unable to maintain a winning streak as they fall to the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3. Both the Bolts and the Flyers played the night before. The Flyers lost to the Florida Panthers, while the Lightning won against the Montréal Canadiens.

Budaj starts for the Lightning after Andrei Vasilevskiy won 3-1 the night before. Anton Stralman is still out with a lower-body injury. J.T. Brown is also out of the lineup. Defensemen Andrej Sustr and Slater Koekkoek play in place of Stralman and Brown.

Steven Stamkos starts the scoring for the Lightning yet again with a power-play goal in the first. Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman both tally assist off of Stamkos’ goal. Hedman is currently tied for third in the league in assists among defensemen.

Both the second and third periods are high scoring compared to the first. Wayne Simmonds and Shayne Gostisbehere both score on the power-play. The Lightning receives six penalties overall. Both goals are due to quick passing and a late reaction by Budaj.

With four minutes left in the second period, an odd-man rush creates energy for the Bolts. Kucherov and Ondrej Palat help Brayden Point score his 16th of the season. Kucherov stays on top of the league with 54 points in 37 games. Point ties the game, 2-2.

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Flyers forward Sean Couturier scores late in the second off a rebound to put the Flyers up 3-2 going into the third. Budaj lost his footing after a shot from Claude Giroux and was unable to save Couturier’s rebound.

Less than two minutes into the third period, Brandon Manning scores a wraparound goal after Budaj lets up another rebound. The Flyers are now up 4-2 and the Lightning has less than a period to score two more goals.

Alex Killorn trips Jakub Voracek with 12 minutes left in the third and the Lightning are short a man once again. However, Tyler Johnson picks up the puck in the defensive zone after defenseman Ivan Provorov breaks his stick. Johnson is able to rush down and score a short-handed goal to put the Lightning down by one.

Johnson’s point streak now extends to 11 games, with 16 points in total on the run.

Late in the third, Peter Budaj is taken down by Scott Laughton from behind. Budaj leaves the game with an apparent left leg injury. Budaj leaves the game with a .879 save percentage with 29 saves on 33 shots. Vasilevskiy steps in and looks to help keep the Bolts in the game.

The Lightning is unable to tie the game up, and Valtteri Filppula scores an empty net goal. The Bolts record only the second loss in December. The eight-game win streak at Amalie Arena is snapped, as the Lightning fall to 27-8-2.

Next: Andrei Vasilevskiy Is Imperfecftly Perfect

To conclude 2017, the Lightning will play the Columbus Blue Jackets on New Year’s Eve. This game is the first of a five-game road trip. The Bolts come back home to take on the Carolina Hurricanes Jan. 9.

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