Carey Price was at his absolute best, but the Steven Stamkos-less Tampa Bay Lightning managed to defeat his Montreal Canadiens in a shootout by a score of 2-1 on Tuesday night. The Lightning’s first win at the Bell Centre since late 2010 moves their record to 13-5-0 and keeps them perched right at the top of the Eastern Conference.

As the guys over at Bolt Prospects so succinctly put it, Tuesday’s victory was perhaps the most important Lightning win in recent memory. Without Stamkos, who underwent successful surgery to repair a broken tibia earlier in the day, the Lightning managed to play a near perfect road game. Despite a few bumps along the road, their hard work and effort ultimately paid off.

Ryan Malone opened the scoring exactly five minutes into the game when he tipped an Eric Brewer shot past Carey Price. Cruising through the slot, Malone was falling to the ice awkwardly as he somehow managed to make contact with the puck. Goals at the National Hockey League level don’t have to be pretty; they all count. Bugsy’s third of the season, assisted by Brewer and BJ Crombeen, was a huge one for the Lightning’s confidence coming out of the gate.

The Lightning (and hockey fans everywhere, for that matter) thought they tallied an insurance marker midway through the second period when Radko Gudas fired the puck past Price. The referees, however, had other ideas. As a result of ‘incidental contact’ with the goaltender, Gudas’ would-be goal was called off. That one play epitomized the horrendous display of officiating on Tuesday evening. Coaches demand that their players be accountable. It’s time for the league to demand that their officials be accountable. Mediocrity simply isn’t good enough when games are so important.

The Canadiens, who were thoroughly dominated for large stretches of the contest, turned up the heat as the game moved into the third period. Their tenacity was rewarded with a goal at 15:22 of the final frame when Danny Briere tipped home his second of the season to knot things at one. For Lightning fans, Briere’s goal was a heartbreaker. The Canadiens (and officials, in the minds of some) had turned what should have been a two goal deficit into a tie game.

It would have been easy for the Lightning to fold at that point, but they did the exact opposite. They continued to pepper Carey Price with quality shots and chances as the game moved into the late stages of regulation and overtime. The Canadiens’ goaltender was equal to the task. He made highlight reel stop after highlight reel stop to keep his team in things right down to the wire. With Steve Yzerman surely watching with Team Canada glasses on, Price put on one hell of a display.

Overtime solved nothing, and so a shootout was needed to decide the game. As he has done all season long, Ben Bishop came up huge when his team needed him most. He stopped Alex Galchenyuk, Daniel Briere, and Brendan Gallagher to seal the deal on the Lightning victory; Valtteri Filppula scored on the Lightning’s opening shot.

As mentioned, Tuesday’s win was a big one for the Lightning. Without Stamkos, the guys proved that they have the ability to win games against quality opponents. While Carey Price will deservedly steal the headlines, Bishop was once again incredibly solid in the Lightning crease. It’s not going to be easy to win games without Stamkos in the lineup, but this Lightning team has what it takes to make some noise even without number-91 in the lineup. If nothing else, tonight’s contest showed the hockey world exactly that.

As always, thanks for reading.

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