Despite allowing a franchise record 51 shots against and looking every bit like a team at the end of a five-games-in-seven-day stretch, the Tampa Bay Lightning managed to steal a victory in Carolina thanks to great play from goaltender Ben Bishop and some timely offense. The Bolts managed to get five goals past the Hurricanes’ goaltenders on their way to the 5-3 win. Tampa’s record is now 29-16-5, good enough to tie them with the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division.
If you need evidence to believe that Tampa escaped from the PNC Arena with two stolen points, look no further than this tweet from the good people over at Bolt Statistics.
TB finished credited with 40 shot attempts (24 on goal, 11 blocked, 5 missed), CAR with 97 -- 97! -- (51 on goal, 28 blocked, 18 missed).
— Bolt Statistics (@BoltStatistics) January 20, 2014So, if you’re asking how the Lightning managed to overcome the possession woes and walk out with victory, you’re not alone. Perhaps it was their ability to get on the scoreboard early. Perhaps it was the fact that Ben Bishop was right on his game, despite starting for the second time in two days. Regardless, the Lightning grabbed two road points. That, ladies and gentlemen, is all that matters.
The Lightning got the scoring party started at the 6:09 mark of the first period when Mark Barberio scored his first career goal. With his team on the power play, Barberio took advantage of some porous Carolina coverage and converted on a great feed from Alex Killorn. Don’t look now, but the Lightning’s man-advantage attack is heating up. It will need to be good if the team wants to make any noise down the stretch and into the playoffs.
It’s no secret that rookies have played a big role in the Lightning’s success this season, and the Tampacuse show continued as the first period moved along. Following Barberio’s goal, Ondrej Palat scored his 10th of the year and Nikita Kucherov scored his 8th to make it 3-0 Lightning. Palat’s goal, in particular, was a thing of beauty. Along with Tyler Johnson and Marty St. Louis, Palat made the Hurricanes defense look silly with a great tic-tac-toe play.
After allowing three goals on seven shots, Justin Peters was removed from the Carolina net and Anton Khudobin entered the game.
At 3-0 it looked as though the Bolts had complete control of the contest. Just 24 seconds into the second period, the team got even more insurance courtesy of Teddy Purcell. He sent home his 10th of the year, assisted by Radko Gudas and Matt Carle, to make it a 4-0 game. And thank goodness he did.
The Hurricanes stormed back following the Purcell marker and scored two early second period goals to make it a 4-2 game. Alex Semin (PP) and Eric Staal scored goals that Ben Bishop would probably like back. Their resurgence was all for naught, however, as Mark Barberio scored his second goal of the game to make it 5-2 before the second period buzzer rang. That was all the offense that Tampa would need to secure the victory.
Ben Bishop was beyond solid as the third period moved along, and truly held his team in it as time wound down. Only one shot, courtesy of Ron Hainsey, got by him in the final twenty minutes. I’m no psychic, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the skaters all took their goaltender out for a nice dinner tonight. He deserves it.
As mentioned, Sunday’s victory wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was far from pretty. Still, it’s a victory. That’s what matters. The Tampa Bay Lightning continue to pile up points on the road, and that’s a good thing. The week from hell is now over, and the guys can breathe. Hopefully they can come back next Thursday against the Ottawa Senators as a refreshed group.
Thanks for reading.