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A lot of people viewed the Tampa Bay Lightning's three-game road trip to California as their first big test of the young season. If you were one of those people, I sure was, you have to agree that the Bolts passed that test with flying colors.

The Lightning finished their road trip at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Sunday night and defeated the Ducks in a low-scoring affair 2-1. With last night's victory, Tampa Bay extended their road point streak to eight games, the second longest in Lightning history. An accomplishment that can only be viewed as impressive.

Vladislav Namestnikov and J.T. Brown recorded the two goals for the Lightning which turned out to be all they needed. For Namestnikov, it was his ninth goal of the year. He continues to show that he is much more than the "other guy" on the Bolts' top line. Brown put in his first goal of the season which gave the Lightning the lead in the third period.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 of 29 shots, including 14 shots in the final period of play. As far as shots go, the Lightning won that battle 37-29.

The Lightning have now reached the 30 point mark only 18 games into the regular season. They are not only three points ahead of the second-best team in the National Hockey League, they hold a six-point lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division.

Tampa Bay will now have a bit of a break before their next contest. They do not play again until Thursday night when they will host the Dallas Stars at AMALIE ARENA.

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