After a disappointing loss against the New York Islanders on Monday morning, the Tampa Bay Lightning stormed back this evening and took down the Carolina Hurricanes in style. Right from puck drop, the Lightning looked inspired, confident and ready to win. Save for a few defensive gaffes in the second period, it was a near perfect road performance.
Unlike yesterday’s tilt against the Islanders, the Lightning came out in the first with a sense of calm and poise that ultimately helped to stymie the Hurricanes’ early efforts. The team seemed genuinely more settled in the defensive zone, and looked better able to transition the play right from puck drop.
The solid early play from the Lightning’s defense gave the forwards space to move through the neutral zone and ultimately created chances. Tommy Pyatt opened the scoring with a highlight reel goal that saw him bat a long-range pass from Vincent Lecavalier out of midair.
Just over six minutes later, rookie sensation Cory Conacher scored his second of the season from Lecavalier and Purcell to give the Lightning a two goal lead. The rookie’s ability to fight for loose pucks in the slot and in the crease is incredibly impressive; three games into his National Hockey League career, it’s pretty clear that the effort is paying off. His vision and unique capacity to generate chemistry with whoever slots in on his line will serve him well in both the short and long-term. Simply put – he’s a keeper.
The second period, which has plagued the Lightning in recent years, gave the Hurricanes their only goal of the night. Jeff Skinner converted a beautiful backhand shot, while falling to the ice, to cut the Lightning lead in half. That goal, combined with strong play from other Hurricane forwards, helped to hold the Bolts at bay during the second period. Penalty trouble and defensive miscues seemed to stunt the Lightning’s ability to generate any sort of consistent attack. Moving forward, the Lightning coaches are going to have to address the team’s second period troubles; if not, more points will be thrown away.
As was the case yesterday against the Islanders, the Bolts came out in the third and completely dominated the final frame. Like the first period and unlike the second, the Bolts’ transition game contributed to create great chances and two goals. Just over a minute in, Keith Aulie converted his first goal of the season (and first as a Bolt) to restore the Lightning’s two goal lead. Then, on what was their fifth powerplay of the game, the Lightning stretched the lead to three. Sami Salo put a shot on net and Ryan Malone knocked in the bouncing rebound for his first of the season.
In what quickly became the story of the night, Mathieu Garon was phenomenal from start to finish. By night’s end, after making key stop after key stop off the Canes’ potent offense, Garon had faced 35 shots and had only allowed one goal. Three games in to this abbreviate season, it’s pretty clear that the Lightning has a very good goaltending tandem. Both guys appear to give the Bolts a great chance to win night in and night out.
Through three games, Bolts Nation has witnessed two very different Lightning teams. Against Southeast rivals Washington and Carolina, the Bolts were solid, defensively sound, offensively dangerous and just plain good. Against the New York Islanders, the Bolts were sloppy and made numerous defensive gaffes. What team will we see moving forward this season? Fans of the Lightning can only hope that it’s the team that won two very important divisional games.
Tampa Bay Lightning: 2-1-0 (3rd in the East)
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