The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the San Jose Sharks in their last game this past Thursday. Their 8-1 rout of the Sharks was arguably their best performance thus far this season. As they embark on a grueling stretch of games this week in the Pacific time zone. First up today was a matinee game in Vancouver. In seasons past, the trip out west proved difficult for the Lightning. Will this west coast trip be different? It all starts in Vancouver.
First Leg of the West Coast Trip
Vancouver is having a very good season. They are currently 9th in the league in winning percentage. The Lightning are 13th. After the puck was dropped on this game the Lightning were on their heels. In the first minute, Brandon Hagel committed a double minor high stick penalty. Hagel cut Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes who returned a few minutes later with a full face shield. His return generated the loudest reaction from the Vancouver fans.
The Canucks with a four minute power play mustered just one shot on Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. The rest of the period was virtually uneventful. Both teams got a couple of good looks at the net. Primarily because both goalies were tracking the puck well and controlling their rebounds.
Just under the four minute mark, Hughes was circling in the high slot and shovelled the puck on his backhand. It was the proverbial puck with eyes as it bounced past Vasilevskiy to open the scoring. Just like that, the Canucks took a 1-0 lead.
Other than the lone Vancouver goal, the first period was played fairly evenly. Pretty much every stat was tied or close to being tied except one notable statistic. Blocked shots. The home team blocked 9 shots to the Lightning’s 2. If they want a chance to get back in this game, the Lightning need to find the shooting lanes to test Vancouver’s netminder. Kevin Lankinen
Lightning Have to Find Their Shot
As both teams came out for the start of the second period, Anthony Cirelli was not on the Lightning bench. He was the recipient of a big hit by Vancouver’s Noah Juulsen. As the period was about five minutes old, the Lightning tied the game at one. Nikita Kucherov took a beautiful feed from Ryan McDonagh and blasted the puck past Lankinen.
Power play goal for Tampa Bay!
Scored by Jake Guentzel with 03:56 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.
Vancouver: 2
Tampa Bay: 3#TBLvsVAN #Canucks #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/OyY0Vgj8V0— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 8, 2024
Less than two minutes later, the Lightning were on a power play. They made it count as Brayden Point slapped the puck past Lankinen. Kucherov threaded the needle with a cross ice pass that found Point’s stick.
The period ended with Tampa leading 2-1. The Lightning found their shots. They outshot the Canucks 19-5 in the second period.
Coffee’s for Closers an West Coast Trip needs Closers
Can the Lightning close out this opening game of this challenging west coast trip? At 4:52 of the final period, Keifer Sherwood snapped a shot past Vasilevskiy to tie the game at two. Where’s a closer when you need one?
Whatever the opposite of a closer is, that is how the Lightning played in the third period. Giveaways in their defensive zone gave the Canucks a spark but Vasilevskiy stood tall. He saved many shots that could have broken the tie.
With less than four minutes left in regulation, on a power play, the Lightning’s Jake Guentzel scored to give his team a one goal lead.
WILD bounce off Noah Juulsen and Jake Guentzel in front and Tampa has the lead back 🫨 pic.twitter.com/vdrG7NC8AM
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 8, 2024
The game ended with an empty netter giving the Lightning a 4-2 victory. Coffee for everyone.
Three Stars
- Brayden Point – 2 goals and 2 assists including his 300th career assist.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy – Saved 22 of 24 shots with a handful of game saving saves
- Nikita Kucherov – 1 goal and 2 assists
What’s Next
Tuesday night at Edmonton. Game 2 of this West Coast trip. Puck drops at 9:00 pm
