Ben Bishop and the Tampa Bay Lightning fought through a tough start to the game on their way to a 3-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night. Thanks in large part to third period contributions from the team’s new look top line, the Lightning were able to grab their ninth win of this 2013-14 campaign.
The Lightning’s first period didn’t offer anything to write home about. After a disappointing result in New Jersey on Tuesday, it was hoped that the Lightning would come out with fire on Friday evening. They did the exact opposite. In the first 20 minutes of play, the Bolts only managed to fire three shots at Justin Peters. Heading into the first intermission, it seemed as though Bolts Nation was in for another long night.
While nobody outside the Lightning family will ever know for sure, Jon Cooper must have said something during that first intermission to wake his troops. From the moment the puck dropped to start the second period, the Lightning looked like a different team. Steven Stamkos, in particular, was flying.
Victor Hedman opened the scoring midway through the second frame with one of the weirdest goals you’re ever going to see. Hedman sent the puck off the boards and somehow it deflected behind Peters and into the net. As unusual as the goal was, the fact remains that there are no pictures on the boxscore sheet. Hedman’s second of the season, assisted by Nate Thompson and BJ Crombeen, gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
The Bolts kept the pressure on, and continued to pepper Justin Peters with quality shots. The Hurricanes’ third (!) goaltender looked every bit like a regular NHL starter and, if anything, earned himself some more playing time moving forward. He thwarted great Lightning chances on numerous occasions to keep his team in the contest. His teammates, however, did little to help the cause.
Steven Stamkos eventually broke through Peters’ force field with his tenth of the year. On a night that saw him fire nine shots on goal, number-91 was simply dominant. Without Peters’ play in the Hurricanes’ net, he could have easily had a multi-goal evening. Assisted by Alex Killorn and Martin St. Louis, Stammer’s goal gave the Bolts the insurance marker they desperately needed.
The team’s top line struck once again with just less than three minutes left in the game when Martin St. Louis and Alex Killorn played give-and-go on a two-on-one rush. Killorn’s third of the season was a real backbreaker for the Canes, who failed to beat Ben Bishop on a couple quality chances in the final frame.
Bishop made 31 saves for his fourth career shutout to help the Lightning move to 9-4-0 on the season. The team will now head back to the friendly confides of the Tampa Bay Times Forum where they’ll take on the St. Louis Blues tomorrow night. If the team can play just like it did for the last two periods on Friday, it’s hard not to like their chances.
As always, thanks for reading.