The Tampa Bay Lightning won their second-consecutive game, beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday night. The Bolts have beat the Canes six-straight times at home.
The Lightning have recorded points in nine of their last ten games and are 7-1-2 in that span. Despite being sellers at the trade deadline, Tampa Bay is still only three points behind the final wild card spot with 20 games to play.
Keeping Shots at a Minimum
When you look at the shot totals from Wednesday night, it is hard to believe that Tampa was able to light the lamp on four separate occasions. They came away with leading in the statistic that matters most but were outshot by Carolina 31-16.
The Lightning recorded just four shots in the first period and three shots in the third. Of those three shots in the final period, two of them turned into goals.
Leading the Way
With all of the hustle and bustle going on in Tampa Bay recently, Nikita Kucherov has been able to turn up his game to an elite level, leading the way to keep this Lightning team rolling.
Kucherov scored his 27th goal of this season to give the Bolts a 3-2 lead in the third period. In addition, he provided assists on both Victor Hedman goals. Kucherov has extended his goal streak to four games, matching a career-high.
The big man on campus is still Steven Stamkos but it is looking more and more like Kucherov will eventually be the best player on this Lightning team.
Not Backing Down
Over the past three-and-a-half days, the Lightning have seen three key players traded away to other teams. On the surface, it appears as though Steve Yzerman has given up on the season and is strictly focussing on the future. Still, Tampa Bay has not stopped fighting winning both of their games since Ben Bishop and Brian Boyle were traded.
The Bolts will face quite the challenge on Friday night when they take on the Penguins in Pittsburgh.