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Game 6 Recap: Bolts Obtain Fourth Consecutive Victory |
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The Tampa Bay Lightning won their fourth consecutive game after defeating the Red Wings in Detroit last night 3-2. The Bolts are now 5-1-0 and are in sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division.
Period One
Once the game got underway, it was a Red Wings early on. Not only was Detroit outshooting Tampa Bay, they were simply outplaying them in every aspect of the game, except goaltending.
However, all it takes is one event for the momentum to swing and that is exactly what happened. The Red Wings were on their second power play of the game when Tyler Johnson got ahold of the puck, turned on his wheels, and put the puck in the back of the net for his third goal of the season.
The Lightning then went on a powerplay of their own. Nikita Kucherov completely stole the momentum away from Detroit with his goal on the man-advantage, giving the Bolts a 2-0 lead midway through the opening period. Kucherov's goal was his sixth in six games.
Tampa Bay would continue to get their opportunities, only falling two short of the Red Wings at the end of 20 minutes. Luckily shots aren't as important as goals and the Lightning led in that category after the end of one.
Period Two
The second period took a bizarre turn early on when a Red Wing goal got taken back for goaltender interference only to be rewarded again on a penalty shot. Justin Abdelkader took out the skate of Andrei Vasilevskiy to cause the interference call. However, the Abdelkader wound up in that position due to a Victor Hedman penalty. After a large amount of deliberation, the referees came to the conclusion that a penalty shot must be rewarded to Abdelkader, which then resulted in the Red Wings getting on the board to make it 2-1.
The craziness of those first few minutes in the second period swung the momentum in Detroit's favor. They would eventually eliminate that early two-goal deficit completely with a Mike Green's first goal of the season 16:02 into the period. The game would remain tied at 2-2 heading into the third and final period.
Period Three
Nikita Kucherov made sure that the tie did not last too long. He scored his second goal of the game to give the Lightning a 3-2. That would turn out to be all the Bolts needed to secure their fourth straight victory.
Kucherov is the fourth player in 30 years to score in each of his first six games. He joins the likes of Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, and Keith Tkachuk. His seven goals are the second most in the league behind Alex Ovechkin's nine.
Up Next
The Lightning will now head to New Jersey to take on the Devils tonight.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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