The Seattle Kraken were wrapping up the second half of a back-to-back and Tampa Bay wasn’t. Typically, this would have provided a circumstantial advantage for the Lightning. In this instance, however, the Kraken benefitted from having played the night before. The Seattle players shook off any rust from the Four Nations Faceoff break. Most of the Lightning players hadn’t played in two weeks.
Sure enough, for much of the first two periods, the Kraken were sharp in their execution, and the Lightning were not quite in sync. In the opening frame, the Lightning managed to limit high-danger chances, which helped them get out of the first in a scoreless tie.
The Lightning scored the only goal in the second period, but it was a period in which they ceded most of the possession to Seattle. They struggled to end Seattle plays in the Tampa Bay defensive zone, so the Kraken strung together long offensive-zone shifts. Unlike the first period, Seattle did generate several Grade-A scoring chances. Fortunately for the Lightning, Andrei Vasilevskiy had no rust to his game. He stopped 18 second-period shots. There were two especially impressive sequences. Just over seven minutes into the period, he made four close-range saves in a three-second span. Then, during a Seattle power play, he recorded three more point-blank stops.
It was during that same Seattle power play — the only power play for either team in the game — that the Lightning grabbed the lead. Ryan McDonagh backhanded the puck out of the defensive zone, and Brandon Hagel collected it in the neutral zone. With Oliver Bjorkstrand defending, Hagel angled his way to the right circle and put a backhand shot through the pads of Ales Stezka at 9:27.
Thanks to Vasilevskiy, the Lightning held that 1-0 lead through 40 minutes. And it was in the third period that the Lightning got their game in gear. They were much cleaner in exiting the defensive zone, and with only a couple of exceptions, they didn’t allow Seattle to have those extended offensive-zone shifts. Vasilevskiy made seven more saves in the period, including a key stop on a Jaden Schwartz in-alone chance when the game was still 1-0.
Just past the halfway point of the third, the Lightning broke the game open. Brayden Point won an offensive-zone faceoff, which led to a Nikita Kucherov goal at 11:15. Point took the faceoff on his weak side. His ability to win the draw on his backhand meant that the puck slid to the middle of the ice. Kucherov, lined up at the inner part of the left circle, snapped a one-timer inside the short-side post.
Less than two minutes later, the Lightning added another. Cam Atkinson entered the offensive zone and sticked a pass toward the net. Luke Glendening redirected it past Stezka’s glove at 12:58.
A Shane Wright deflection goal at 15:24 cut the Lightning lead to 3-1. A successful offside challenge from Seattle negated a Kucherov empty-netter at 16:17, keeping the deficit at two. The Kraken applied six-on-five pressure over the next two minutes and directed four shots towards the net. The last of those hit the crossbar. Seconds later, the Lightning exited the defensive zone. Hagel set up Nick Paul for the empty-netter that sealed the win at 18:14.
The victory was the Lightning’s season-high fifth straight. They’ll look to keep things rolling when they host Edmonton on Tuesday.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Bobby “The Chief” Taylor):
- Andrei Vasilevskiy — Lightning. 36 saves.
- Kaapo Kaako — Kraken.
- Luke Glendening — Lightning. Goal.
