They made it a lot harder than it probably had to be, but the Tampa Bay Lightning did indeed manage to snap their five game losing streak on Thursday night when they beat the Florida Panthers by a score of 5-4. Buoyed by fantastic performances from Steven Stamkos, Valtteri Filppula, and Ryan Callahan, among others, Tampa was able to overcome some shaky goaltending to grab their first victory since March 1st. The “W… moves the Bolts into third spot in the Atlantic Division with a 35-24-7 record.
Prior to the game, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper labeled the contest as pivotal. Simply put, his club was in dire need of a win. You can bet that the coach was happy that the guys manufactured one and walked away from the Tampa Bay Times Forum with two very important points.
While the Bolts did eventually win the game, it was the Florida Panthers who got on the board first. With Tom Pyatt off for hooking, Tomas Fleischmann scored his seventh of the season to give Florida the 1-0 lead. Lightning goalie Ben Bishop got caught sliding the wrong way, leaving Fleischmann to deposit the puck into the open net.
The Lightning responded about four minutes later when Sami Salo fired his third of the season past Dan Ellis. Right off a Valtteri Filppula faceoff win, Salo stepped into one and absolutely ripped it past the Panthers tender. Sticking with the theme of the first period, Salo’s goal was likely one that Ellis would like back.
Just when you thought that the Lightning might be able to build on Salo’s goal, the Panthers struck once again. Only twelve seconds after Tampa knotted the game, Quinton Howden slid the puck past Bishop to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead. At the time, I described that goal as one of the worst I’ve seen all season. It was a weak, unscreened shot that just fooled the goaltender.
Not to be “outdone… by the guy at the other end of the rink, Ellis let in a second questionable goal at the 8:18 mark of the first to square things back up. Mike Kostka slapped home his third of the year to get the Lightning back on even footing.
If you’re just looking for one line of overarching analysis, know that the first period wasn’t a good one for the goaltenders. Ellis and Bishop combined to allow four goals on eighteen shots against. That kind of goaltending doesn’t win hockey games at the NHL level all that often.
After being outshot in the first, the Lightning really turned the tables in the second. That hard work paid off at the 12:04 mark when Ryan Callahan scored his first as a Bolt and twelfth of the season to give the Lightning a 3-2 lead. It was a great goal. All three members of the Palat-Filppula-Callahan line combined to make it happen. It looked a little something like this:
Can you say Super-Cally-Rific? Callahan's first as a Bolt. pic.twitter.com/HOhayPM3aT
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 14, 2014Goals Since Trade: Callahan 1, St. Louis 0. #FunWithNumbers #TBLightning #NYRangers
— Michael Stuart (@HB_MikeStuart) March 14, 2014Tyler Johnson, who has been red hot over the last handful of games, notched the Lightning’s insurance marker with about a minute left in the middle stanza. The only assist on Johnson’s 21st of the season went to Steven Stamkos. That point was his first since returning from injury.
With that first point out of the way, Stamkos ticked another check box when he scored his first post-injury goal midway through the third period. On the power-play, Stamkos sent home one of his patented one-timers courtesy of a great feed from Valtteri Filppula. Jon Cooper had this to say about 91’s celebration:
Cooper on Stamkos' goal: He didn't jump in the crowd after the goal, he went over to Val & acknowledged the pass.That's why he's our captain
— Missy Zielinski (@Missy_Zielinski) March 14, 2014After going up 5-2 in the third period, most onlookers expected the Lightning to skate to the final buzzer with relative ease. My thought was that a three goal third period lead against team battling for lottery positioning is always safe, unless you’re the Vancouver Canucks. So when Ben Bishop elected to allow two questionable goals in the last 65 seconds of play after some iffy defensive coverage in front of him, it came as a bit of a surprise. The team almost blew it, but the clock hit zero just in time. You could feel everyone in Bolts Nation exhale collectively.
I’ve already referenced Bishop’s play a couple times in this blog and over the last few days. If you’re asking me, he looks mentally fatigued. It’s well known that he’s still battling that wrist/hand injury that’s been plaguing him for a few months now, but we’ve all seen him fight through that and play like a Vezina-quality goaltender. This looks different. As I noted on Twitter, there are occasions when he just seems to be a half second behind while tracking the puck. Regardless, he managed to secure his 30th win of the year, which ties a team record for most wins by a goaltender in a single season. I’ll wager that he beats the record soon enough.
As crazy as it was at times, the bottom line is that the Bolts snatched a victory when they needed one most. If that doesn't show character, I'm not sure what else does. The team now has points in three straight games, and will aim to build on this win when they take on the New Jersey Devils this Saturday.
As always, thanks for reading.