Welcome to Victor Hedman Night at Amalie Arena! The Tampa Bay Lightning return home tonight following a thorough thrashing at the hands on these same Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon. The Bolts have struggled as of late, losing their last four straight games. Some fans have expressed frustration with their team. But tonight, before the puck drop, all the critics were silent for a few moments to honor the greatest Lightning defenseman of all time- Victor Hedman.
Happy 1000th!
The special day for number 77 was highlighted by a loving note from his father earlier in the day. The pregame festivities included presentations from teammates Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov and video tributes from former Bolts Ondrej Palat, Pat Maroon, Ryan McDonagh, and Alex Killorn.
Spurred on by the Hedman celebration, and perhaps a determination for some redemption, the Bolts came out much more inspired in this one. Dallas had a couple of high danger chances early on. After a rough outing on Saturday, goaltender Andrei Vasilekskiy stood tall in net and made some big saves.
Then, at 7:47, the Bolts did something they have not done too often in the last several games. They scored first! Shortly after a video honoring Nikita Kucherov as the NHL’s first star of the month, the Lightning superstar drilled home his 16th of the season to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Nikita Kucherov now has:
⚡️ 16 goals
⚡️ 41 points
⚡️ 10-game point streakWhat a torrid start to the season for Kuch. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/BQbwbH7GzL
— NHL (@NHL) December 5, 2023
The teams continued to battle. With time ticking down, the Bolts did not let up. At 18:21, Anthony Cirelli, who always seems to work so hard for his goals, tipped in a feed from Erik Cernak to double the Lightning lead to 2-0.
TONY MAKES IT 2-0! pic.twitter.com/MT7lf4xXHC
— Bally Sports Sun: Lightning (@BallyLightning) December 5, 2023
The Quest to Protect a Lead
The Bolts have struggled to score first in their recent stretch. Unfortunately, when they have scored first, the’ve often struggled to hold the lead. Just two games ago, they jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead against Pittsburgh only to let it slip away in a 4-2 regulation loss.
Their quest was successful for the second period, thanks to some beautiful and vintage saves from Vasilevskiy. With just under seven minutes remaining in the period, the Stars had some grade A chances. As the Lightning netminder stopped them all, a familiar sound could be heard throughout Amalie Arena. Fans chanted “Vasy… Vasy!!” as the all-star goaltender appeared to be getting back to his pre-injury form.
One More To Go
Now, all that was left was for the Bolts to hold on for another 20 minutes. They came out for the third determined to protect the victory and the shutout for Vasilevskiy.
Almost halfway through the frame, former Dallas forward Luke Glendening went in on a mini breakaway. He got his shot off as he slid into the net beating goalie Jake Oettinger to increase his current team’s lead to 3-0.
Luke Glendening revenge game 😏 pic.twitter.com/kW7mhiOt3V
— Bally Sports Sun: Lightning (@BallyLightning) December 5, 2023
The Bolts were not done yet! Anthony Cirelli seemed to be everywhere on the ice tonight. He scored his second of the night at 12:12 to put his team up 4-0.
TONY'S ON 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4I485mpgh1
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 5, 2023
Time ticked down. The “Vasy” chants picked up once again. The horn sounded.
The losing skid has come to an end and Andrei Vasilevskiy and the boys have rebounded in a big way with a 4-0 shutout!
Three Stars
1- Andrei Vasilevskiy- 25-save shutout
2- Anthony Cirelli- 2 goals
3- Nikita Kucherov- 1 goal, 1 assist
Up Next
In a rematch of Thursday’s game last week, the Lightning will once again host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Amalie Arena in a 7pm start.
