After falling into a 2-0 hole in the first period, the Tampa Bay Lightning scratched and clawed back into the game and earned two points with a 4-3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Joel Armia opened the scoring only 1:27 into the first period when the Canadiens skated into the Bolts zone on an odd-man rush and Armia took a pass from Kaiden Guhle, allowing him to skate in all alone on Andrei Vasilevskiy and fire a shot glove side to give Montreal the early 1-0 lead.
Recording just four shots on goal in the opening frame, the Lightning found itself in a 2-0 hole when Jake Evans double the Canadiens lead with 5:26 remaining in the opening frame. With Montreal pressuring Tampa Bay on the forecheck, Brendan Gallagher forced a turnover and sent a pass to the front of the net for Evans, who found the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season to send the Bolts to the locker room trailing by two.
Needing a better effort, the Lightning came out for the second period with the necessary, extra jump. As a result, Brayden Point got his team back within one when he lit the lamp for the 32nd time this season with 12:16 remaining in the middle frame.
With the top line of Steven Stamkos, Point and Nikita Kucherov back together, Kucherov sent the puck to the slot for Stamkos, who drew two Montreal defenders toward him before feeding a pass to the back door. Taking the puck off his left skate, Point quickly fired home Tampa Bay’s first goal of the night and made it a 2-1 game.
Building off that momentum, the Bolts evened the score at the 15:49 mark of the second when the dynamic duo of Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel teamed up to make it a 2-2 game.
Working on the forecheck, Hagel gained possession of the puck and made a tight turn before sending a perfect pass across the slot for Cirelli, who wisely fired a shot top shelf to even the score with his 13th goal of the season.
As it looked like Tampa Bay had all the momentum, Josh Anderson gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead at the 6:23 mark of the third period when he redirected a shot from Cole Caufield past Vasilevskiy for his eighth goal of the year.
But the Lightning responded in a big way when Tyler Motte scored his second shorthanded goal of the season to make it a 3-3 game with 9:42 remaining in regulation. Reading the entry perfectly, Motte intercepted a pass at the Tampa Bay blue line before darting down the ice and beating Cayden Primeau through the five hole for his sixth goal of the year.
Following a scoreless overtime, the big guns stepped up for the Bolts in a six-round shootout with Stamkos and Victor Hedman scoring goals and Vasilevskiy making five saves on six shots against to cap off the 4-3 win for the Lightning.
With the win, Tampa Bay improved to 33-24-6 on the season with a home record of 19-8-4. The team will enjoy four days without a game before getting back to action against the Calgary Flames at AMALIE Arena on Thursday.
Bolts by the Numbers
- Brayden Point scored his 32nd goal of the season and extended his season-long point streak to nine games (7-4—11). Point has now found the scoresheet in 11 consecutive home games, matching Nikita Kucherov (11 GP from Nov. 18 - Dec. 31) for the longest home point streak by a Lightning player this season. Only Nathan MacKinnon (29 GP; active), Connor McDavid (24 GP; active) and Artemi Panarin (13 GP from Oct. 16 - Dec. 15) have had longer home point streaks this season.
- Nikita Kucherov recorded the secondary assist on Brayden Point's goal and extended his point streak to six games (2-9—11). The All-Star Winger has pointed in 16 of his last 17 contests (10-20—30).
- Steven Stamkos recorded the primary assist on Brayden Point's goal and is up to 52 points on the season (24-28—52).
- Anthony Cirelli scored his 13th goal of the season and is up to 33 points on the campaign (13-20—33).
- Brandon Hagel notched the lone assist on Anthony Cirelli's goal and is up to 60 points on the season (22-38—60). Hagel is just the 10th skater in Lightning franchise history to record multiple 60-point seasons with the club. He has 22 points over his last 16 games (9-13—22).
- Tyler Motte scored his sixth goal of the season, a shorthanded tally, to force overtime. Motte has scored two of Tampa Bay’s three shorthanded goals this season and is now up to eight points on the campaign (6-2—8).
Bolts Quotes
Jon Cooper: “Ultimately, I'm pleased with the result, but we can't come out like the way we did. Spotting an NHL team two goals and giving yourself two periods to come back, that's not the recipe for success. I've liked how we've played the last week and a half, but I was disappointed with the way we came out at this time of year, especially with the race we're in. But I tip my hat to the guys. They stock corrected and turned our game around and then Vas took us home at the end.”
Cooper on Max Crozier: “That kid can turn the page in a hurry. No matter what happens, he just goes out and plays a shift and plays it hard. He competes. I thought our turnaround in the second period, especially that first goal, he had a ton to do with it. He's got a good head for the game and every NHL game he plays, you can see he's getting more confident and more comfortable. He's got fire in the belly. You like those kids that have that.”
Krenner’s Three Stars
- Tyler Motte
- Cole Caufield
- Victor Hedman
Lightning Look Ahead
- Thursday, March 7 vs. Calgary Flames, 7 p.m. ET, AMALIE Arena - Buy Tickets
- Saturday, March 9 vs. Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m. ET, AMALIE Arena - Buy Tickets
- Thursday, March 14 vs. New York Rangers, 7 p.m. ET, AMALIE Arena - Buy Tickets
