This game was a mixed bag for the Lightning. They endured a rough first period, one in which they allowed 20 shots and three goals. And once again, they struggled in overtime, ceding nearly all of the possession before yielding the winning goal. On the other hand, they showed some moxie in rallying from a two-goal deficit and improved their defensive game over the final 40 minutes of regulation. After Brandon Hagel’s tying goal at 14:32 of the third, they thoroughly dominated the last five and a half minutes and narrowly missed on several Grade-A scoring chances. But miss they did, and once the game got to overtime, the Kraken grabbed the extra point. Still, the Lightning banked one — and wrapped up the homestand with eight out of a possible ten points.
The Lightning defended tightly and limited opposition scoring chances in each of their two previous contests — both shutouts. But they weren’t able to replicate those performances in the first period against a motivated and hungry Seattle team. After a couple of good early offensive-zone shifts for the Lightning, they spent much of the rest of the frame without the puck. The Kraken not only owned most of the possession, they created a handful of dangerous scoring chances (including a two-on-zero rush for Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Eberle). Jonas Johansson did well to deny most of those opportunities, but he wasn’t able to stop all of them. Brian Dumoulin converted on a rebound at 12:08, and one minute later, Yanni Gourde scored from the slot. After Tanner Jeannot cut the deficit to 2-1 at 13:37, Kailer Yamamoto extended the lead with a power-play rebound goal from the slot.
From the opening faceoff to start the second, the Lightning raised their urgency level. They tallied their second goal when they received their first power-play chance of the game — Alex Barre-Boulet converted into an open net after a goalmouth scramble. While the Lightning did yield some odd-man rush chances in the stanza, they didn’t let Seattle create as many high-danger opportunities.
During the first 14 minutes of the third, Tampa Bay had a few good looks: a Conor Sheary in-alone chance, a Mikey Eyssimont wrap-around, and a Haydn Fleury point shot that hit the crossbar. But the puck stayed out. Then they received a fortunate bounce. Hagel swept the puck from the right circle off Alex Weinberg’s skate and between Philipp Grubauer’s pads. That goal tied the game and sparked the Lightning. But it would also be the last fortunate bounce they received. Before regulation ended, the Lightning posted five more shots on net and registered 13 shot attempts. Two of those hit iron: Hedman rang a left-circle shot off the crossbar, and Jeannot put a rebound shot off the post.
In what has been an unfortunate and familiar script for the Lightning, they lost the faceoff to begin overtime and had trouble getting the puck back. Seattle held onto it for well over a minute before the Lightning finally gained possession. Moments later, they almost won the game. Brayden Point set up Nikita Kucherov at the side of the net, and Kucherov redirected the puck off the post. It caromed into the crease, where Grubauer covered it. It was the fourth post/crossbar the Lightning hit. On the next shift, the Lightning took a penalty, and Seattle ended up cashing in on the ensuing power play to win the game.
This may not have been the Lightning’s best game during the homestand. But it may have been their grittiest performance. They scratched their way out of a two-goal hole to earn a point and make this key five-game homestand a very successful one.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Jared McCann — Kracken. GWG.
- Jaden Scwartz — Kraken. Two assists.
- Alex Barre-Boulet — Lightning. Goal and assist.
