The Backcheck: Lightning pick up right where they left off with win over Kraken

Would there be a 4 Nations Face-Off hangover?

That was the underlying question heading into Sunday night’s matchup between the Lightning and the Kraken at Amalie Arena.

Would players like Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel come out sluggish, or ride the 4 Nations adrenaline wave to big nights? How low would Jon Cooper’s resting heart rate be compared to Thursday’s down-to-the-wire, overtime championship game between the United States and Canada?

Tough to discern the latter—but it was certainly a quiet start early for the Bolts.

The Lightning offense struggled to find a groove until midway through the first, when a glimmer of solid puck movement translated to a few decent looks and near-misses. Nikita Kucherov, playing in his first period of hockey in over two weeks, found Guentzel with a smooth dish at the net with four minutes left. But goalie Ales Stezka stopped Guentzel short, along with any momentum from building through a scoreless first.

The zeroes continued deep into the second period, in which a dominant night from Andrei Vasilevskiy began to take shape. Vasilevskiy stopped all 23 shots he faced through the first 30 minutes of play, blanking a Seattle power play in the process.

That Erik Cernak tripping call brought out the notorious Lightning penalty kill midway through period—and the Bolts’ Brandon Hagel wasted no time in capitalizing. Hagel took a useful Ryan McDonagh saucer pass to the house, cashing in the first goal of the night with a spinning backhand through Stezka’s five-hole.

"He's making a hockey read and the rest was all him," McDonagh said of Hagel. "It seems like every year he's getting more confident out there. The best thing about it is that he wants those situations.”

Vasilevskiy’s mastery continued in the final frame. The Big Cat added seven more saves in the period to total 36 on the night, including a big stop on a Jaden Schwartz breakaway to hold the lead at 1-0.

“If there’s one guy that needs or one position player that needs the rest, it’s the goalie,” Cooper said of Vasilevskiy’s first game back. “I was glad he got the break. And you can see tonight he was really dialed in.”

A Nikita Kucherov one-timer never hurts either. Kucherov ripped a goal over the glove of Stezka directly off a Brayden Point face-off, extending his point streak to seven games and throwing the Lightning offense into its customary regime.

The score provided a spark as well as a cushion. Less than two minutes later, Luke Glendening found the back of the net with a tip-in for his fourth goal of the season.

Seattle forward Shane Wright notched the Kraken’s loan goal of the night, tipping one off the shot of Brandon Montour past Vasilevskiy late. Seattle opted to pull their goalie shortly after, gaining the extra man with about four minutes to play.

A Kucherov empty netter quickly ensued, but the goal was called back after a review deemed the play offside. At last, Nick Paul was able to make it official with an empty-net goal with 1:46 left to play, sealing the Bolts’ fifth-straight win.

Vasilevskiy earned First Star of the Night honors, improving his record to 6-0-0 versus the Kraken.

Lightning host teachers and first responders to cap off #TampaBayStrong hurricane relief initiative

One of the night’s shining moments commemorated the massive, community-wide relief effort by the Lightning Foundation, which invited local first responders and affected teachers to Sunday night’s events. The foundation raised more than $4 million fueled by fan donations, donating $1.3 million to the Hillsborough Education Foundation to provide critical assistance, foster resilience and begin the process of recovery across Tampa Bay.

More than 500 backpack kits filled with school supplies were delivered to students in need. 305 teachers and support staff who lost homes, experienced significant property damage or faced severe hardships received direct financial support.

It was a nice touch to an important ongoing movement throughout Tampa Bay. And while there’s more work to be done, the funds and infrastructure are there thanks to programs like these.

“So many of us who have lost so much don’t know when normal will happen again,” said Karen of Mabry Elementary School. “But the compassion and generosity of others during this time has shown us the beautiful side of people.”