The Tampa Bay Lightning shut down the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night, and walked away from the Tampa Bay Times Forum with a much-needed 2-1 shootout victory. Buoyed by an incredible performance from goaltender Ben Bishop and a late second period goal from electric rookie Nikita Kucherov, the Bolts were able to squeak by their division rival and secure their 18th win of the 2013-14 campaign. The victory propels Tampa Bay past the Wings and into third place in the Atlantic Division.
Following approximately ten minutes of rather lethargic play from both clubs to open the contest, the Lightning started to generate some attack and sustained pressure. Unfortunately, it was the Red Wings that would get on the board first, as Kyle Quincey notched his first of the season at the 15:04 mark of the first period. The former Bolt, who was dealt for the pick that landed Andrey Vasilevskiy, found the puck at the side of Bishop’s net and banked it past the lanky goaltender for the Wings’ 1-0 lead.
While the replay of Quincey’s marker might look ugly, the fact is that Bishop simply didn’t know where the puck was. Considering just how good he was for the rest of the game, it’s probably fair (read: absolutely necessary) to let him off the hook for that one.
An evenly matched second period produced the game’s tying goal when Nikita Kucherov wristed home his third of the year. Since joining Tampa Bay just a few short weeks ago, the Russian forward has been positively phenomenal. While many Lightning players have often struggled to generate offense and excitement since Steven Stamkos went down with a broken tibia, Kucherov has been an exception. He's magic with the puck. Assisted by fellow call-up JT Brown, Kucherov’s goal was a big one for Tampa Bay.
As the game wore on, it became more and more of a battle. While not particularly nasty or dirty, the contest was a grind from start to finish as momentum swung back and forth. Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the third period, despite late man-advantage opportunities, thanks in large part to great goaltending from Jonas Gustavsson and Ben Bishop. Even so, neither team gave up. Watching two teams go up against each other like Tampa and Detroit did on Thursday is always a treat. Each chance and each goal meant something significant.
Overtime solved nothing, and so a shootout was needed. Gustavsson and Bishop traded stops for five rounds before Marty St. Louis scored what turned out to be the game-winner. Marty’s goal, coupled with Bishop’s perfect shootout performance, secured the Lightning’s big win.
Much has already been said about Ben Bishop’s heroic play against the Wings, but some things are worth mentioning 9,000 times. Following up on a rough outing in Washington, Big Ben rebounded in spectacular fashion. He made 28 saves on 29 shots fired his way, including two or three game-saving stops. Give credit to Bishop for making sure the guys in front of him had a chance to go home with the ‘W’.
With another first-star outing in the books, Bishop is definitely giving Team USA brass a lot to think about when it comes to the Sochi Olympics. No, he doesn’t come with the same pedigree that Jonathan Quick and Ryan Miller do. No, he’s not a hot name like Cory Schneider or Jimmy Howard. With that said, results are results. The reality is that Bishop has arguably been the best American goaltender in the NHL this year. As Team USA gets closer to naming its roster, I’ll have a full blog up discussing Bishop’s chances to make the team.
While not perfect, the Lightning’s performance on Thursday gives the team a lot to build on moving forward. The team will now leave Florida and head out on a three game road trip that begins on Saturday in New Jersey.
As always, thanks for reading.
And now for a laugh...
Some talk in Washington of Ovechkin getting 50 in 50. Said Cooper: "If you're going to play D like we did that night he might get 80 in 50."
— Damian Cristodero (@LightningTimes) December 12, 2013