The first home game after a long, West Coast road trip is always a challenge for Eastern Conference Teams in the NHL, let alone when the first game back is against a team as strong as the Boston Bruins.
But the Tampa Bay Lightning were ready to go Wednesday night and skated to an impressive, 3-1 win over the Bruins to improve to 40-25-7 on the season.
The Bolts opened the scoring at the 10:06 mark of the first period when Mitchell Chaffee recorded his fourth goal of the season with Nick Paul and Mikey Eyssimont picking up the helpers.
After taking a pass near the Bruins blue line, Eyssimont turned and put the puck right on the tape of Paul, who drew pressure from Brandon Carlo and calmly flipped a backhand feed into open space. Chaffee then beat his man to the puck, gained possession and roofed a perfect shot over the blocker of Linus Ullmark to give Tampa Bay the game-opening goal.
Boston got a response from Danton Heinen with 2:49 remaining in the first when the Bruins got in on the forecheck and forced a turnover, leading to Pavel Zacha finding Heinen alone in front before he beat Andrei Vasilevskiy for his 15th goal of the year.
But that would be the only goal the Bolts surrendered all night.
Following a fight late in the first period between Tanner Jeannot and Trent Frederic that ended with one quick, heavy uppercut from Jeannot, the Lightning came out for the second with plenty of juice and grabbed the lead less than 10 minutes in. At the 6:50 mark of the middle frame, Brayden Point continued his extraordinary run and put Tampa Bay up 2-1 with his 42nd goal of the season.
Following a smooth breakout pass from Emil Lilleberg, the big defenseman unloaded two heavy shots from the blue line before Point jumped on a loose rebound and showcased some impressive edgework before beat Ullmark with a wraparound for the go-ahead goal.
The Lightning nearly went up 3-1 after Steven Stamkos hammered a slap shot past Ullmark with what would have been his 30th goal of the season, but after Boston challenged for offside, the officials ruled Anthony Cirelli crossed over the blue line just before the puck and overturned the goal.
As the tight-checking game that felt close to playoff hockey rolled on, the two teams battled it out for the remainder of the contest before Nikita Kucherov capped off the 3-1 win with his 42nd goal of the season, an empty-net tally, at the 19:33 mark of the third period.
Andrei Vasilevskiy was spectacular in net, making 23 saves on 24 shots against to improve to 27-16-2 on the season.
Bolts by the Numbers
Brayden Point scored his 11th game-winning goal of the season, the most among all NHL skaters. Point has scored a goal in 13 of his last 17 contests (17-10—27) and is up to 42 goals on the season (42-39—81), tied with Nikita Kucherov (42-82—124) for the seventh-most goals in the NHL. Since the start of last season, Point has scored 93 goals, the third-highest goal total over a two-season span in Lightning franchise history, trailing only Steven Stamkos’s 105 from 2010-12 and 96 from 2009-11. Over Tampa Bay’s eight-game point streak, Point has scored 10 goals (10-6—16), the most among all NHL skaters during that span.
Nikita Kucherov scored an empty-net goal and set a new career-high for goals in a single season with 42 (42-82—124). Kucherov’s 124 points are the most among all NHL skaters. Over the Lightning’s eight-game point streak, Kucherov has recorded 18 points (4-14—18), the second-most among all NHL skaters, trailing only Connor McDavid (3-16—19), who has played one more game than the Bolts winger.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves and picked up his second assist of the season on Nikita Kucherov’s empty-net goal. Vasilevskiy has now recorded 20 career assists, the third-most among all active NHL goaltenders and tied for the 26th-most in NHL history.
Victor Hedman picked up his 70th point of the season (12-58—70) with the primary assist on Nikita Kucherov’s empty-net goal. Hedman has now recorded three career 70-point seasons, tied for the second-most among all active NHL defensemen.
Nick Paul skated in his 400th career NHL game and picked up the primary assist on Mitchell Chaffee’s game-opening goal. Paul is up to 39 points on the season (19-20—39), the highest single-season point total of his career.
The Lightning penalty kill went 2-for-2 on the night and has now killed off 26 of 27 penalties during the eight-game point streak (96.3%). Since March 1, the Bolts penalty kill is operating at 96.9%, the highest among all NHL teams during that span.
Tampa Bay finished the night with 47 hits, led by Tanner Jeannot and Emil Lilleberg, who both recorded five hits on the night. The 47 hits are the second-most the Lightning have recorded in a game this season.
Bolts Quotes
Andrei Vasilevskiy: “It felt like playoff hockey out there…We're growing together as a team. Obviously, the two new guys on the team and the fresh blood have really helped us. We're hunting for a playoff spot. Just because we've won the last few games, it doesn't mean that we're already there. We've just got to keep pushing, keep churning.”
Brayden Point: “We've had a bit of an up & down season, but to string together this many games in a row is good for our confidence. I think we've kind of found an identity that really works for us. Playing simple, not forcing things, playing our structure and waiting for opportunities.”
Jon Cooper on Emil Lilleberg: “He's really just grown. A big part of his game is the physical side of things, which I think he's really taken care of. But he's breaking the puck out for his and then, on Pointer's goal, he was just hammering the puck. That's what we need out of him.”
Vasilevskiy on his assist: “I’ll trade the assist for one single win. It’s not my goal, but [it was] good. Especially Kuch scored, so I’m happy.”
Cooper on being physical after Boston battled Florida Tuesday night: “I thought if we could be physical right off the bat and have these guys have to sit there and think, 'OK, we're going to be in another one tonight,' we could maybe take advantage.”
Krenner’s Three Stars
- Brayden Point
- Andrei Vasilevskiy
- Mitchell Chaffee
Lightning Look Ahead
- Saturday, March 30 vs. New York Islanders, 7 p.m. ET, AMALIE Arena - Buy Tickets
- Monday, April 1 vs. Detroit Red Wings, 7 p.m. ET, AMALIE Arena - Buy Tickets
- Wednesday, April 3 at Toronto Maple Leafs, 7 p.m. ET, Scotiabank Arena
