It was election night in the USA. But the Tampa Bay Lightning and St. Louis Blues could not spend their evening watching voting results come in. Instead, they were embroiled in a battle of their own. The Bolts were finishing up a four-game road trip that started out on a positive note with a win in Colorado. Since then, they’ve had a couple of tough losses and came into tonight on a two-game losing skid looking to right the ship.
Scary End to First Period on Election Night
The first period was mainly uneventful. Until it came to an early end. The Bolts outplayed the Blues for much of the period. Each team had a successful penalty kill. The Lightning got a second chance at a power play and looked dangerous but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Then, with 1:11 remaining, the Bolts got called for a high stick as Brandon Saad fell to the ice. Upon review, it was clear that the high stick was actually from his teammate, Zack Bolduc. And then all eyes turned to the St. Louis bench where Dylan Holloway appeared to be in significant pain after taking a puck to the upper body. Medics brought out a stretcher and wheeled him to the dressing room. The other players followed suit and headed to their dressing rooms 1:11 early. The extra time would be added to the start of the second period.
Update on Holloway is that he is in hospital in stable condition.
Exchanging Goals in the Second
The Bolts opened the scoring just over two and a half minutes into the second period. Nick Perbix notched his first of the season. Anthony Cirelli and Nikita Kucherov both got their 11th assists of the season on the play.
Perbix gets the scoring started 🚨 pic.twitter.com/P6FGq75Zbc
— Lightning on FanDuel Sports Network (@FDSN_Lightning) November 6, 2024
But then, the Blues really took control. At 7:57, Oskar Sundqvist scored his first of the season to tie the game at 1-1. And as the period wound down, the Blues struck again. Alexey Toropchenko scored his first of the season with a minute and half remaining. St. Louis would take a 2-1 lead to the locker room after forty minutes.
Who Would Finish Strong on Election Night?
The Lightning have had a tough road trip. Historically, Winnipeg, Minnesota, and St. Louis have been among the toughest cities for the Bolts. And tonight was proving no exception. Jordan Kyrou scored at 8:51 to double the St. Louis lead to 3-1.
The Lightning did fight back. They pulled to within a goal as Victor Hedman took a feed from Nikita Kucherov and slapped it past Binnington at the 11:43 mark.
With 2 minutes remaining, the Bolts found themselves in a familiar situation- down by a goal on the road and needing to pull the goaltender for the extra attacker. This time, they did not give up the empty net goal. But, unfortunately, they also could not score a goal. They lose it 3-2 to drop their third straight. They will be very happy to be done with this road trip!
Three Stars
1- Jordan Kyrou- game winning goal
2- Nikita Kucherov- 2 assists
3- Oskar Sundqvist- first goal of the season tied the game
Up Next
The Bolts will certainly be happy to return home to the friendly confines of Amalie Arena. They face off against the Philadelphia Flyers. Puck drops at 7:30pm.
