They made it more interesting than it probably had to be, but the Tampa Bay Lightning managed to defeat John Tortorella’s Vancouver Canucks by a score of 4-3 on a night that saw them celebrate the team’s 2004 Stanley Cup Championship. Buoyed by some early offense, the Bolts were able to survive a late push from Vancouver and grab their third straight win. The victory moves the Lightning up to second place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 37-24-7.
On a night that saw them reminisce about the greatest moment in the franchise’s history, it was only fitting that the Lightning came out with a win. Prior to puck drop, the team held a nice ceremony to honor and celebrate the 2004 championship team. Players like Dave Andreychuk, Cory Stillman, Pavel Kubina, and Andre Roy, among others, joined coaches and managers to watch a touching video tribute on the big screen.
Perhaps the coolest moment of the evening was when Tortorella left the Canucks bench to the tune of a standing ovation as he walked to join his former team at center ice. Torts gave the crowd a big smile, and a fist-pump. Say what you want about the man, but he played an integral part in the Lightning’s machine for a lot of years. This is a coach that will be respected and admired by generations of Lightning fans for years to come, or at least until the Bolts win their next Cup.
It’s not unusual for the home team to sag after sitting through a pre-game ceremony. Credit the Lightning for doing the exact opposite. For the first two periods, the Bolts put on an absolute clinic. Their speed was on full display, and they used it to their own advantage. Tortorella’s Canucks had no answers.
That hard work paid off at the 17:56 mark of the first frame when Steven Stamkos scored his 16th goal of the season, a power play marker. Ryan Callahan and Ondrej Palat did some great work in the corner and combined to feed a wide open Stamkos, who then made no mistake sending the puck past Eddie Lack for the 1-0 Lightning lead.
Ondrej Palat doubled the Tampa lead about seven minutes into the middle stanza when he had an attempted pass deflect off Vancouver defender Ryan Stanton and past Lack. Palat’s 18th of the year was his second point of the night. Palat may not be a sexy name like Nathan MacKinnon, but you damn well better believe that he’ll get some attention in the Calder Trophy race. The 2011 7th round draft pick currently sits second in rookie scoring with 46 points, and boasts a blindingly impressive +28 rating. He has truly become Mr. Everything for the Lightning.
Wanting to do his part for #TankNation, Ryan Stanton *scored* his second own-goal of the game with only seconds remaining in the second period. This time it was Valtteri Filppula who sent the puck onto Stanton’s person before it found its way behind Lack. Stamkos did some good work to feed Filppula, but from there it was all luck.
It’s interesting to note that on both own-goals, the Canucks had generated a great scoring chance only moments prior. That’s sort of been the story of Vancouver’s year. Good scoring chances remain nothing but chances, and they often turn into goals at the other end. People are often quick to blame Tortorella for that team’s disappointing season, but it’s worth considering that the roster just isn’t good enough to compete for a playoff spot, let alone the Stanley Cup.
Unlike the Canucks who played the first two periods, the Canucks who came out in the third looked like a hockey team capable of winning. They skated hard, dominated the play, and quite frankly appeared to be the better team. Jon Cooper's squad was kept on its heels for a good chunk of the final twenty.
Bolts goaltender Ben Bishop had his 100+ minute shutout streak snapped about six minutes into the third period when Alex Burrows scored a power play goal to pull Vancouver to within two. Left alone in front, Burrows was able to backhand a rebound past Bishop to make it a 3-1 game. After suffering through an epic scoring drought to start the year, Burrows is on a hell of a hot streak right now.
When Tom Pyatt scored to restore the three goal Tampa advantage minutes after Burrows scored, this blogger didn’t think much of it. The Callahan line appeared to swing momentum back in the Lightning’s favor, and Pyatt simply cashed in with his third of the year on the following shift. It was a weak goal on Lack that looked to be a backbreaker at the time. Nobody could have predicted just how pivotal that fourth Lightning goal would be.
Before sixteen minutes had passed in the final period, Vancouver had pulled itself to within one. Goals courtesy of Burrows (though it could be changed to Nicklas Jensen) and Jannik Hansen gave Torts’ squad new life. It looked like the Bolts were well on their way to one of their now patented post-Olympic collapses. Thankfully that didn’t happen.
Bishop shut the door for the remaining minutes of the game, and when the final buzzer sounded the Lightning were credited with a big “W… in the standings. For the Canucks, it was yet another loss in what has become a devastatingly disappointing year. For the Lightning, it was a huge win that propelled them out of a wildcard spot and into second place in the Atlantic.
Sport Club Stats now has the Lightning’s chance to make the playoffs at a whopping 99.2%. It looks like Tampa fans will get to witness some spring action for the first time since 2011. What has yet to be determined, however, is where the team will finish in the standings. A big game on Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs will help to determine that.
As always, thanks for reading.