Tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning welcomed in the red-hot Toronto Maple Leafs. A team who have won 13 of their last 15 games, while the Bolts have won 10 of their last 15 games.
It was a tough day in Tampa Bay, as the Lightning said good bye to Vlad Namestnikov at the trade deadline. Along with the young forward, the Lightning sent Libor Hajek and Brett Howden to the New York Rangers for Ryan McDonagh and JT Miller. Namestnikov was having a career year with the Bolts and will finish his season in New York for the Rangers. McDonagh is still a week away from making his debut. Brooks Roland talks all about the move Steve Yzerman made at the deadline HERE
Both goalies have seen a lot of shots this season
Heading into tonight’s game, no goalie in the NHL had faced more shots than Frederik Andersen. At the start of the game tonight, Andersen entered the game having faced 1,804 shots this season. Andrei Vasilevskiy is number three in the league having faced 1,612 shots. Henrick Lundqvist, Sergei Bobrovsky and Conner Hellebuyck round out the top five goalies in shots faced. Lundqvist is the only other goalie to face more shots than Vasilevskiy.
Kunitz on the top line
With the trade of Namestnikov, a spot opened up with Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov on the top line. At times this season, Chris Kunitz had spent time on the top line with the two Lightning stars. Tonight, having the rugged tough winger paid off for them. Not even two minutes into the game, Kunitz tipped a shot past Andersen for a 1-0 Bolts lead, with the goal coming from the point off Andrej Sustr’s shot. Tampa’s lead would last just barely over seven minutes before Toronto got on the board.
Marner keeps hot streak going
Twenty-year-old Mitch Marner has been really hot the last handful of games for the Maple Leafs. Heading into tonight’s game, Marner had 13 points in his last 10 games. Tonight, he was the man who gave Toronto an early lead following a game-tying goal a minute earlier by James van Riemsdyk. Marner’s goal gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead that they would take into the first intermission.
Stamkos sets a career high
Tonight, the Lightning captain set a career high in assists when he registered the assist on the game opening goal. It was his 47th assist of the season and it’s only the third time in his career he has had over 40 assists in a season. In 2009-2010 Stamkos registered his first 40+ assist season when he got 44, the same season he had 51 goals for 95 points. The following season, his hot play continued as he set his then career high in assists with 46. Since 2010-2011, his season-high was 37 assists in 2011-2012, when he also registered 60 goals to win the Rocket Richard for the second time.
Johnson, Gourde and Erne lead the way
Erne’d it. ???? #TORvsTBL pic.twitter.com/8j5mfTa6ul
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) February 27, 2018
The Line of Tyler Johnson, Yanni Gourde and Adam Erne was arguably the best line of the night. Both Johnson and Erne notched goals while Gourde got an assist on Johnson’s wraparound goal that made it a 2-2 game early in the 2nd period. Near the end of the period, following a good possession in the offensive zone, Erne would give the Lightning a 3-2 lead. The Maple Leafs would tie the game back up five-and-a-half minutes into the third period. Neither regulation nor overtime would settle this game, as both teams headed to the shootout. Brayden Point scored his second consecutive shootout-winning goal to give the Lightning a 4-3 victory over their Atlantic Division rival.
Game Notes
-This was the Lightning’s 10th straight game scoring at least 3 goals.
-Nikita Kucherov played five minutes in the first period before leaving the game with an undisclosed upper body injury.
-Tyler Johnson would briefly leave the game with what appeared to be a leg injury. He would return in overtime showing zero signs of any injury.
***Three Stars of the Game***
3rd Star – Frederick Andersen: Stopped 39 of 42 shots, making timely saves to keep Toronto in the game.
2nd Star – Tyler Johnson: Scored the game tying goal and centered the best line of the night.
1st Star – Brayden Point: Scores the lone shootout goal yet again to give the Lightning a win.
