Thanks in part to a three assist performance from Valtteri Filppula, the Tampa Bay Lightning managed to win their third game in three nights and second against the St. Louis Blues since Wednesday. The 4-3 Lightning victory featured a lot of back-and-forth action from the two teams, a stark contrast to the game play in Wednesday’s comeback thriller.

It didn’t take long for the festivities to start on Friday evening. After Adam Erne’s hit on Vladimir Sobotka in the previous Blues/Lightning contest, it didn’t come as a shock that the Blues sought out retribution very early on. Just 11 seconds into the game, David Backes and Nate Thompson got into a tussle that ended up with a total of four players in the box.

Following that early scuffle, the two teams got down to business and never looked back. Artem Sergeev opened the scoring on the powerplay to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead just over seven minutes into the first frame. Valtteri Filppula was credited with his first assist of the night.

The Lightning lead didn’t last long, as Alex Steen scored to tie the game at one with just less than five minutes left in the first. His goal was the only one to beat Bolts goalie Ben Bishop, who looked solid in just over 30 minutes of playing time against his former team.

Brett Connolly broke the tie late in the second period when he took a perfect pass from Valtteri Filppula and potted the puck past Jaroslav Halak. For those of you counting at home, that goal marked his third of the preseason. Simply put, Brett Connolly is playing some phenomenal hockey right now. It was great to see him generate opportunities in a defined ‘top-six’ role with Filppula and Alex Killorn. Given all that he’s done so far in camp and the preseason, it’s going to be very hard for Jon Cooper and Steve Yzerman to leave Connolly off the Lightning’s opening night roster.

The back-and-forth continued as Corey Locke and Ondrej Palat traded goals before the end of the middle frame. Following the game, Jon Cooper mentioned that he felt as though the ice tilted in favor of the Blues in the second and that the Lightning were lucky to get out of the period with a 3-2 lead. While that may be true, the fact remains that the Lightning were able to hold on even when things got a little bit tough.

Just over five minutes into the third period, P.C. Labrie scored his first of the preseason to give the Lightning a 4-2 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. As he continues to fight for a spot on the Lightning’s fourth line, Labrie has to be happy with the fact that he chipped in offensively with a big goal at a key time. He may not be the fastest player out on the ice, but Labrie can always be counted on to put in a great effort.

T.J. Oshie put the puck past Anders Lindback to make it a 4-3 game just minutes after Labrie scored, but that was as close as the Blues would come. For the second time already this preseason, the Lightning handed the Blues a disheartening loss. Just as Adam Erne was the hero on Wednesday, Valtteri Filppula was the hero last night. In addition to his three assists, he was the definition of dominant in the faceoff circle.

The Lightning, now 3-0-0 in the preseason, will play their fourth game in four nights tomorrow evening against the Florida Panthers.

As always, thanks for reading.

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