Raw Charge’s Kyle Alexander said it best: if you’re going to have a stinker, Edmonton is a good team to have it against. The Tampa Bay Lightning came out on Thursday night and laid an egg. The Oilers outplayed the Lightning, outskated the Lightning, out-chanced the Lightning, but failed to outscore the Lightning. Buoyed by a two goal performance from Steven Stamkos and a heroic effort from Ben Bishop, the Lightning escaped from the Tampa Bay Times Forum with a 4-2 win. The victory moves the team’s record to a sparkling 11-4-0, which is good enough for first place in the Eastern Conference.
Steven Stamkos opened the scoring just over seven minutes into the first frame when he took advantage of a brutal Nail Yakupov giveaway and fired the puck straight past Devan Dubnyk. Given the fact that Thursday’s contest really came down to a one goal difference, you can bet that Dubnyk would like Stamkos’ first of the night back. The goal really epitomizes the start of Dubnyk’s 2013-14 campaign; it was a weak goal at an inopportune time and it really cost his team.
The Oilers battled right back, however, as Taylor Fedun notched his second goal in as many games to tie things up at two. The young defender skated into the slot, received a pass from Jordan Eberle, and wristed the puck past Ben Bishop. While the goal hurt the Lightning on the scoreboard, it’s hard not to be happy for Fedun. After suffering a career threatening injury just a few years ago, he has battled back in a big way. Not only is he playing in the NHL right now, but he’s contributing in a meaningful way. Props to number-81.
With less than a minute left in the first period, Steven Stamkos restored the Lightning lead with his thirteenth of the season and second of the night. Another goal that Dubnyk would probably like back, Stamkos’ second marker came off a traditional wrap-around play. It was nothing special, but it was enough to give the Lightning a much needed one goal lead heading into the first intermission.
From the moment the puck dropped to start the second period, the Oilers took control of the game. They peppered Ben Bishop with shots, generated chances, and looked like a much better team than their record indicates. Still, it was the Lightning who managed to score the only goal of the second frame when Tyler Johnson sent home his fourth of the season to extend his team’s lead to 3-1. Radko Gudas and Richard Panik were credited with assists.
The Lightning’s third period was worse than their second period, and finally the Oilers managed to take advantage. Only seconds after Ben Bishop made a huge save, Taylor Hall wired a great wrist shot past the Lightning tender to pull the Oilers within one. That was as close as the Oilers would come, though, as Bishop came up absolutely huge during the final moments of the third frame. Bishop’s play was enough to hold the Lightning lead until Valtteri Filppula sealed the deal with his sixth goal of the season, an empty net marker.
As mentioned, the Lightning’s 4-2 victory was far from pretty. If the team is going play like that on a regular basis, it won’t win too many games going forward. Had it not been for Ben Bishop, the Lightning would have lost by a pretty hefty margin. While it’s great that the team was able to compile another two points in the standings, there’s a whole lot to work on before the team gets back at it on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings.
As always, thanks for reading.