The Lightning scored early and often against the Avalanche to build a big lead after one period. Then they handled the 40 minutes well, not allowing Colorado to entertain thoughts of a comeback rally. The result was a blowout victory for the Lightning, one which featured a franchise-record-setting performance from Brandon Hagel.
Following Saturday’s loss to Dallas, the Lightning lamented how they’d passed up potential shots. At the start of this game, they took shots that were available to them. Five of those went in against Colorado goalies Justus Annunen and Alexander Georgiev.
There were several key moments in this game, and two of them occurred in the opening period. Colorado’s Ivan Ivan scored at 8:56, cutting the Lightning’s lead to 2-1. But Tampa Bay answered just over a minute later when Nikita Kucherov beat Annunen with a right-circle one-timer. The Avs never got back to within a goal. The second pivotal moment came when the Avalanche went on the power play at 11:22. Entering the game, their power play percentage was clicking at 30.3%. Not only did the Lightning kill the penalty, they scored shorthanded. Instead of the Avs potentially cutting the Lightning lead to 3-2, it became 4-1.
Another key segment occurred early in the second period when the Avs received another power-play chance. The Lightning successfully got through the kill as well as an extended d-zone shift immediately after the penalty ended. Minutes later, Brayden Point converted on a Lightning power-play, extending the lead to 6-1.
Hagel recorded four first-period assists, setting the franchise record for most assists in a period. He matched the franchise mark for points in a period (four) and assists in a game (five). Anthony Cirelli scored in the closing seconds of the first period, extending his career-best goal streak to six games. Luke Glendening and Mikey Eyssimont each tallied their first goals of the season. Zemgus Girgensons registered his first point with Tampa Bay — his assist on Eyssimont’s goal was the 100th of his career.
The Lightning defended well throughout the night, especially against Colorado’s top players. Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, and Artturi Lehkonen were all held without a point.
The Avs were at the end of a four-game, nine-day road trip. The Lightning did well to put Colorado into a big deficit and make this final game of the Avalanche’s trip a difficult one.
With the victory, the Lightning reached 24 points after 20 games, maintaining playoff pace through the first two 10-game segments. They’ll continue their busy week on Wednesday when they host Washington.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Brandon Hagel — Lightning. Five assists.
- Erik Cernak — Lightning. Assist.
- Nikita Kucherov — Lightning. Goal and two assists.
