Just as they did on Thursday in Nashville, the Tampa Bay Lightning built up an early two goal lead today in Dallas. Just as they did on Thursday in Nashville, the Tampa Bay Lightning followed up by being grossly outplayed for the last two periods of play. Unlike in that Nashville game, however, the Lightning were able to manufacture a victory. Thanks to some great goaltending from Ben Bishop and timely offense from the skaters, Tampa secured a 4-2 victory over the Stars.
Lightning captain Marty St. Louis opened the scoring just over one minute into the contest when he deflected an Eric Brewer shot/pass past Kari Lehtonen. The goal was Marty’s first of two on the day, 28th of the season, and third since the trade request talk started. Suffice to say, Marty isn’t letting all the trade talk distract from the task at hand. Erik Erlendsson had this to say after St. Louis’s first goal:
And for the first time since a while that I have noticed, big smile and some emotion from St Louis after he scored
— Erik Erlendsson (@erlendssonTBO) March 1, 2014Opportunity knocked and gave Tampa a chance to really put the Stars in a hole only moments later when Alex Chiasson took a double minor for high-sticking and gave the Bolts a four minute power play. Of course, as Lightning fans have come to expect from this group, the power play came up empty. It’s really hard to believe that 40% of the league is worse with the man advantage than the Lightning, but it’s true. I don’t know how that’s possible.
Despite being thoroughly outplayed through the second frame, a period in which they allowed 18 shots against, the Lightning managed to score the game’s third goal. At the 14:31 mark of the second, Marty St. Louis took a great feed from Ondrej Palat, broke free, and potted his second goal of the afternoon. O Captain! My Captain!
St. Louis’s second goal of the game proved to be a big one, as the Stars scored two goals late in the second period to bring them within one with plenty of time remaining. The first Stars marker, credited to Antoine Roussel, was a deflection off Mike Kostka’s skate, while the second was a weak, bad-angle shot from Vernon Fiddler that just squeaked past the Lightning tender.
Things went from bad to worse for the Lightning, as Ryan Malone took a horrendous tripping penalty with only seconds left in the middle frame. Given the atrocious nature of this year’s Tampa penalty kill, it was hard not to get the feeling that the game would be tied up. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. The Lightning were able to get into the intermission with that one goal lead and then they were able to kill of the time remaining to start the third.
The Lightning’s play wasn’t perfect in the third period, but it didn’t cost them a victory. While they were outshot 15-3 in the final stanza, they also managed to score the period’s only goal. At the 7:12 mark of the third, Sami Salo took a Victor Hedman feed and wired home a slap shot from the blue line. It was probably one that Lehtonen would like back, but it counted nonetheless.
Dallas was gifted two very questionable power play opportunities in the waning moments of the game, but was unable to convert. The Lightning held on and manufactured a very important win. As said, Tampa’s performance wasn’t perfect. It was, however, enough to get the job done. The win moves the Lightning’s record to 34-21-5, which is good enough to put them in second place in the Atlantic Division.
Tampa will now head to Denver, where they’ll take on the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow night. The last time the Lightning and Avalanche got together, Lightning rookie Tyler Johnson scored a hat trick and helped power his Bolts to victory. You can bet that the Avalanche will be looking to respond on their home ice.
As always, thanks for reading.