The Tampa Bay Lightning traveled to Philadelphia on Sunday night for the second half of a back to back. On Saturday night, the Bolts defeated the Boston Bruins in overtime and turned their attention to the Flyers less than 24 hours later. Backup goaltender Brian Elliott got the nod on Sunday and the Tampa Bay offense went to work quickly.
McDonagh factors in early lead
The opening minutes of this game were largely controlled by Philadelphia. The Flyers doubled Tampa Bay’s shot attempts total through the first 7 minutes of the game. However, it was Ryan McDonagh who found the back of the net first in this contest. Following a shot attempt by Steven Stamkos, McDonagh was in the right place at the right time to clean up a rebound in front of Flyers goaltender Carter Hart. McDonagh took control and converted an easy backhand to put the Lightning up 1-0.
It did not take long for Tampa Bay to extend their lead and put the remainder of the game on cruise control. Exactly 1 minute after his goal, McDonagh found himself factoring into another scoring play. In a similar fashion to the first goal, McDonagh fired a shot on net from just inside the blue line. The rebound bounced off the end wall and onto the stick of a waiting Corey Perry. Perry easily tucked the puck into the net to put the Lightning ahead by 2 goals.
Middle frame belongs to the youngsters
On Saturday night in Boston, rookie forward Taylor Raddysh earned his first career NHL goal. Sunday night marked the start of Raddysh’s first ever “streak” in the National Hockey League. Victor Hedman entered the offensive zone and dropped the puck onto Raddysh’s stick at the right circle. After taking control, Raddysh fired home a slapshot to give the Lightning a 3 goal lead at 2:56 of the second period.
Not to be outdone buy his rookie counterpart, Boris Katchouk felt it was time to burst onto the goal scoring scene less than 4 minutes later. After a center point shot from Hedman, Katchouk slid the rebound right into the back of the net for his first career NHL goal. As a result, Tampa Bay had full control of this game with a 4-0 lead. But, the second period scoring was not quite finished.
.@RussianRocket13 picks up his first NHL goal!! 👏 pic.twitter.com/3yc0mQEcKt
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 6, 2021
With Zach Bogosian in the penalty box for holding, the Lightning penalty kill cleared the puck down the ice. Hart left the crease to attempt to play the puck in the corner, but was challenged by Mathieu Joseph. A clearing attempt by Hart ended up right on Joseph’s stick, and Joseph turned and slid the puck into an empty net for an easy goal. Tampa Bay rode a 5-0 lead into the locker room after 2 periods.
Maroon, Perry pad lead in big win
The Lightning played a complete 60 minutes on Sunday night. They kept the pressure and did not let up even with a large lead. Pat Maroon increased this lead at 5:29 of the third period for his 5th goal of the season. Corey Perry took control in the offensive zone after a failed clearing attempt by the Flyers. After some nifty skate work, Perry fed Maroon in front of the net and the “Big Rig” found the back of the net.
The shutout attempt was ruined on a power play goal by Cam Atkinson, but Perry once again got on the scoresheet to get the goal back. This time, Perry converted on a tip in of a Ryan McDonagh blast from center point. This turned out to be the game’s final goal, and Tampa Bay left Philadelphia victorious to the tune of a 7-1 drubbing of the Flyers.
The win marked the 1,000th in franchise history for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
3 Stars:
- Corey Perry
- Ryan McDonagh
- Ross Colton
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