The Tampa Bay Lightning rebounded from a disappointing 4-2 loss against the Los Angeles Kings by defeating the Anaheim Ducks 5-3 on Sunday evening. By completing the split against the SoCal teams, the Bolts were able to reclaim their grasp on first place in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.
While the loss to Los Angeles on Saturday night was undoubtedly difficult to swallow, the fact that Tampa was able to manufacture a split out of a back-to-back set against two of the most daunting teams in hockey can only be considered a positive. It certainly sounds like the players, including experienced leaders in the room, gained some confidence as a result of the win:
Callahan:They're the best in the West. Shows if we play the style we have to play, and play to our capabilities we can play with anybody"
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) February 9, 2015Cooper: "That's a big effort by the boys. I don't know if proud's a big enough word." #TBLightning #ANAvsTBL
— Bryan Burns (@BBurnsNHL) February 9, 2015Like Los Angeles did on Saturday against the Lightning, the Lightning got up early against the Ducks on Sunday. Brian Boyle scored his 11th goal of the season, and first of two on the night, just 2:55 into the first period to put his team up 1-0. While Boyle got credit for the goal, it only happened as a result of a phenomenal effort from Victor Hedman; he deserved more than a primary assist on the play. Brett Connolly was credited with the second helper.
Valtteri Filppula extended the Lightning lead to 2-0 at 13:42 of the opening frame when he was able to pop the puck past Frederik Andersen. After Ryan Callahan and Steven Stamkos helped to swing the puck into the slot, Filppula pounced and converted as he’s done so many times over the last season-plus with the Bolts.
Matters got worse for Anaheim before the first period buzzer rang, as Nikita Kucherov was able to notch his 20th marker of the year at 18:52. Kucherov, like he’s done on so many nights this season, took a great feed from Tyler Johnson and tipped it by the opposing goaltender. That made it 3-0, and all but put the game away.
The Ducks briefly cut their deficit to two at 4:49 of the second when Ryan Getzlaf scored his 17th of the year. Standing in front of the net, Getzlaf had the puck redirect off his skate and past Ben Bishop for the score. The goal was initially waved off, but the folks in Toronto reversed the on-ice official’s call and deemed it a good goal. In this blogger’s opinion, the right call was made.
That was as close as the Ducks would get in the second, as Brian Boyle scored his second of the game at 14:27 to restore the three-goal Lightning lead. Following up on some great work by Brett Connolly and Ondrej Palat in front of the net, Boyle was able to clean up and pot the puck with ease for his 12th of the season. It’s hard to understate just how good Boyle has been for the Bolts all season long; I was initially skeptical about the signing, but he has effectively erased any and all doubts I had at the beginning of the year.
Any hope for a Ducks comeback was squashed just over six minutes into the final stanza when Ryan Callahan scored his 16th of the season, with help from Stamkos and Filppula. After teaming up to make it a 2-0 game in the first period, that trio got together again to make it a 5-1 lead in the third. When the Lightning needed their best players to be their best players, their best players were their best players. Good things happen when that's the case.
At that point it would have been easy for the Ducks to roll over and give up. Give them credit for doing the exact opposite. Bruce Boudreau’s club continued to fight until they couldn’t fight any longer. It started with a Sami Vatanen power play goal at 14:57 of the third, and continued with Eric Brewer’s first of the season at 17:26.
(Welcome back, Brewer. We missed you.)
That made things interesting with just over two minutes left on the clock, but it ultimately proved to be too little too late for an Anaheim Ducks team that has won more than its fair share of close games this year. The Lightning skated off the ice at Amalie Arena with a 5-3 win in their back pocket, and a whole lot of confidence.
What could have easily been an 0-2-0 weekend against the SoCal clubs turned into a respectable 1-1-0 showing. For that, both the Lightning players and coaches have to be happy. Beating one of the best teams in hockey while playing on the second night of a back-to-back set isn’t easy, but the Bolts managed to do just that. They’ll need to continue to put up points against quality teams as this hellish month of February moves along.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.