The Tampa Bay Lightning left Thursday night's game against the St. Louis Blues with an impressive 5-2 victory, giving them consecutive wins for the first time since the middle of November.
The game did not start out in favor of the Bolts as they surrendered two goals in the first period separated by only 32 seconds. As has been the case for most of the season, careless turnovers and poor defense were the cause of both goals scored by the Blues. Tampa's play in their own zone continues to be a cause for concern and the need for top-four defenseman becomes more and more apparent every game.
Luckily for the Lightning, a hockey is not one period long. A different team came out of the locker room to start the second period and it lead to a very dominant comeback. Tampa's offense not only started to produce, with second-period goals from Brian Boyle and Michael Bournival, the defense tightened up and prevented the Blues from doing much of anything. St. Louis only managed four shots on goal in the second period and spent most of the time defending their own zone. It was clear that the Bolts had established control of the hockey game going into the third and final period.
Alex Killorn opened up the scoring in the third period putting the Lightning on top for the first time in the game. The team would stay there, providing two more goals and allowing none. The Bolts displayed incredible resiliency in last night's game. Instead of retreating to their turtle shells with hopes of not getting completely blown out after going down 2-0, the team kept fighting and put together an impressive victory.
The Lightning's special teams looked good for its second straight game. They scored on the power play for the sixth consecutive game while the penalty kill did not give up anything to the opposition. The PK has been a real weakness for this Lightning team so it is reassuring to see the unit achieving some success in the past two games.
With all of the injuries lately, it is nice to see other player stepping up and playing bigger roles. Both Brian Boyle and Jonathan Drouin have been phenomenal as of late. Boyle scored a goal for his second straight game, making it four goals in his last five games. He is taking to the ice with such confidence and even his teammates can tell he has been feeling good recently.
Drouin has been the star of this team, demonstrating his elite skills in the offensive zone. He contributed two goals and an assist last night but his numbers do not accurately demonstrate how unbelievable this kid has been. Drouin keeps plays alive with his impressive skating abilities and really opens up the ice, providing scoring opportunities for others. No team wants to lose players to injury but it has served as a bit of a coming out party for Drouin who is going to be a star on this team for many years to come.
The Lightning do not get any rest after their win last night as they head to Washington D.C. to take on the Capitals tonight for the second game of a back-to-back. The Capitals have had their share of ups and downs this season but currently hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Lightning would truly be on cloud nine if they could capture a third straight victory before heading into the holiday break.