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Stamkos Hat Trick Powers Lightning Past Maple Leafs |
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Steven Stamkos scored three goals, and his Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 5-3 on Wednesday at the Air Canada Centre. While far from perfect, the Bolts were good enough to secure their fourth straight victory. The win was a big one for Tampa, as they now sit second in the Atlantic Division and three points clear of the Maple Leafs with two games in hand.
The Lightning were gifted an early 1-0 lead, as Radko Gudas beat James Reimer with a very weak wrist shot from the point just less than a minute into the contest. When Gudas tells his grandchildren about his third goal of the 2013-14 campaign, I’m sure he’ll share a tale of grandeur. The real story is far less glamorous. Gudas beat Reimer with a shot that shouldn’t get past a goalie in midget, let alone the National Hockey League.
Toronto responded and turned that deficit into a 2-1 lead before the 11:00 mark of the first courtesy of goals from Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin. Kessel’s 35th (!) of the year came as he found himself all alone in Stamkos’ circle and ready for a one-timer, while Kulemin’s 9th was a smart tip that Ben Bishop would probably like back.
Following Toronto’s second goal, the Bolts went on a bit of a possession rampage. The Leafs’ issues in that department are well documented, but sometimes it’s good to get a visual depiction of what’s going on.
If that doesn’t tell a story, I don’t know what does.
Sticking with the defense-optional theme, Steven Stamkos scored his 17th and 18th goals of the year before the first buzzer rang to turn that 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 Lightning lead. The first, a power play marker, came on a one-timer after a phenomenal (read: un-freakin’-believable) pass from Valtteri Filppula. The second was just a quick shot in the slot that beat Reimer cleanly. The captain is pretty good at hockey.
When two teams that don’t play great defense get together, goals are expected. However, I’m not sure that anyone could have expected five goals on 15 shots combined in the first period. The fans were entertained, but I can’t imagine that the coaches were all that happy.
The opening frame also included a scary incident that saw Alex Killorn drill former Bolt Paul Ranger from behind with only seconds remaining. It was an ugly hit, and one that cost Killorn five minutes and a game misconduct; Ranger had to be taken off the ice in a stretcher, but is said to be in decent condition now. I expect that Killorn will have a disciplinary hearing with the league, though I’m not sure that anything will come of it. TSN’s Bob McKenzie and Aaron Ward articulated that they don’t believe the hit will be deemed a suspend-able offense.
The Lightning, specifically Stamkos, scored the only goal of the second to extend the lead to 4-2. Some great play by Eric Brewer and Ryan Malone allowed Stamkos to skate into the slot and deposit the puck into the gaping cage for the natural hat trick; Stamkos is the first player to notch a natural hatty against the Leafs since Thomas Vanek did it back in 2009. I’ll say it again. The captain is pretty good at hockey.
After Stamkos scored his third, the Bolts sort of fell asleep. The Leafs completely turned the tables and began dominating the game. In the third period alone, Toronto was able to fire 22 (!) shots at Ben Bishop. Call it score effects or whatever else you’d like to call it, but the fact remains that the Lightning looked real bad.
Toronto’s hard work in the third paid off at the 8:20 mark when Jake Gardiner beat Bishop to pull his Leafs back to within one. Game on.
Given that the Lightning have displayed quite a penchant for relinquishing multi-goal leads since the Olympic break ended, it was hard not to feel that the Leafs were going to tie the game and eventually win it. The Lightning just looked listless. Thankfully for Tampa, the big guy in goal was wide awake and ready to save the day. Bishop kept the Bolts in the lead and Tyler Johnson was able to score an insurance marker to seal the deal. Bolts Nation exhaled.
It could be argued that Wednesday’s win was the biggest for the Lightning so far this season. Beating the Maple Leafs, a divisional opponent chasing the Bolts for one of the top three seeds in the Atlantic, and securing a fourth straight win is huge. Huge may even be an understatement. Like I said, it wasn’t a perfect performance, but the Lightning were able to take advantage of a tired Maple Leafs team and grab two points.
The Lightning will be the tired team tomorrow, as they will now head to Ottawa for a tilt with the Senators.
As always, thanks for reading.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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