This was a night of milestones. Mitchell Chaffee scored his first NHL goal and Steven Stamkos picked up his 1,100th NHL point.
As for the game itself, the Lightning outplayed the Arizona Coyotes and were deserving of the victory. They received offensive contributions up and down the lineup, and they dictated a majority of the play in each of the three periods. They outshot Arizona, 37-20, and owned a 65-47 advantage in shot attempts.
For the first time in three games against Connor Ingram, the Lightning had success against the Arizona netminder. Ingram had allowed a total of one goal over two previous starts versus Tampa Bay, but he wasn’t able to replicate his earlier outstanding performances. Instead, he gave up six goals on the night, including one on the first shot he faced — a Darren Raddysh point shot just 24 seconds into the game. Nick Paul screened Ingram as the puck approached the net.
The Lightning made a few defensive mistakes in the game — three of those led to the Coyotes’ goals. The first of those occurred at the 8:40 mark. Clayton Keller finished a rebound chance at the left circle. But soon after, the LIghtning reestablished control and tilted the ice. They regained the lead for good in the final minute of the period. Off the rush, Nikita Kucherov set up Brayden Point, who finished his shot from the left circle at 19:26.
The Lightning pulled away in the second. Kucherov wired home a right-circle one-timer at 7:36. Stamkos fed him the puck and earned his 1,100th point in the process. Five and a half minutes later, Kucherov returned the favor, setting up Stamkos for a power-play goal. Stamkos buried his one-timer from the left circle at 12:02. Then came the milestone goal for Chaffee. In the offensive zone, Lilleberg rimmed the puck around the boards. Max Crozier pinched to the right circle and collected it. He skated to the right corner and threw the puck in front. It banked off the side of the net and came directly to Chaffee in the slot. Chaffee lifted the puck into the top of the net at 15:20. Not only did the goal feature the milestone point for Chaffee, Lilleberg and Crozier earned their second NHL points.
The Coyotes got one goal back at 16:59 and earned a power-play chance in the final minute of the second. But the Lightning killed off the penalty, which carried into the third. Then they received their second goal of the game from the Luke Glendening-Chaffee-Waltteri Merela line. At the inner part of the left circle, Glendening intercepted a Sean Durzi pass that deflected off Merela — he shot it quickly past Ingram at 7:32. Merela collected his first NHL assist (and second NHL point) on the goal.
Lawson Crouse’s tally after a Lightning turnover at 11:48 made it 6-3, but the Coyotes would get no closer. Arizona defenseman Michael Kesselring cross-checked Crozier after the goal, putting the Lightning on a four-minute power play. While the Lightning didn’t score on either end of the double-minor, the penalties took away almost half of the remaining time on the clock.
Facing a team that had played the night before, the Lightning effectively took care of business. They received a big night from Kucherov, Stamkos, and Point — the three players combined for three goals and seven points. They also got a goal from a defenseman (Raddysh), and two goals from the Glendening line.
The Lightning have gone 7-1-0 in their last eight. They have one game left before their bye week and the All-Star Break – they’ll look to finish this segment strongly when they host the Devils on Saturday.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Nikita Kucherov — Lightning. Goal and two assists.
- Steven Stamkos — Lightning. Goal and assist. Reached and eclipsed 1,100 points.
- Mitchell Chaffee — Lightning. First NHL goal.