Tampa Bay Lightning

Back on a winning streak!

TOR-2
TB-4

Anders Lindback allowed 2 goals on 25 shots for the victory. Say what you want about old Anders, he's 7-3-1. Just win, baby.

First Period
09:25 TB Lecavalier (6), (Pouliot, St. Louis)
17:59 TOR Grabovski (4), (Kulemin, MacArthur)

Second Period
04:56 TB Stamkos (10), (Conacher, Pouliot)

Third Period
02:49 TB Killorn (2), (unassisted)
06:58 TB Carle (3), (Pouliot, Hedman)(PP)
16:08 TOR Van Reimsdyk (9), (Kessel, Bozak)

Vincent Lecavalier, Benoit Pouliot, and Matt Carle were the game's three stars.

Alex Killorn (pictured) had a goal and was +1 with 3 shots, 2 hits, and 2 blocked shots in 13:55. There's a reason he was given a real number like 17.

Richard Panik had 1 shot, 1 hit, and 1 blocked shot in 10:20. Drew a penalty after missing the net on a scoring chance. Man he looks explosive, though.

Cory Conacher had an assist and 1 hit in 14:56. Watch out Honey Badger, Killorn's sneaking up on you in IT.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

Slump busted, barely.

TB-6
FLA-5 (OT)

Anders Lindback allowed 5 goals on 30 shots for the victory. Really only one of those goals was truly cringe-worthy. Either way, he gets the W and with the decision, he graduates from prospect status on Bolt Prospects.

First Period
00:48 FLA Matthias (3), (Weaver, Skille)
04:48 TB Pouliot (4), (Lecavalier, St. Louis)
06:51 TB Killorn (1), (Carle)

Second Period
02:27 FLA Skille (2), (Matthias, Weaver)
03:42 TB Stamkos (8), (Conacher, Purcell)
19:55 FLA Smithson (1), (Kovalev)

Third Period
01:53 FLA Huberdeau (6), (Shore, Strachan)
03:24 FLA Kopecky (3), (Weiss, Campbell)
07:28 TB Stamkos (9), (Purcell, St. Louis)(PP)
19:49 TB Purcell (4), (Stamkos, Thompson)

Overtime
01:19 TB Pouliot (5), (Pyatt, Bergeron)

Benoit Pouliot (pictured), Steven Stamkos, and Martin St. Louis were the game's three stars.

At this point of the season, against this opponent, this was 2 points the Lightning absolutely had to have. They outshot the Panthers. They outhit them. They bested them in the faceoff circles. They got the better end on special teams. And yet, still, the Lightning came within 11 seconds of dropping a must win game.

Congratulations to Alex Killorn on his first NHL goal on a pretty nice shot from the high slot. He also had 2 shots and 2 hits in 12:31.

Richard Panik had 3 hits in 7:09.

Cory Conacher had a helper and was -1 with 2 penalty minutes, 4 shots, and 1 hit in 15:01.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

I expected more after the comeback in the Canadiens game.

WSH-4
TB-3

Mathieu Garon allowed 4 goals on 39 shots for the loss. Far be it from me to question Guy Boucher, but at this point I'd be strapping a saddle to Anders Lindback and riding him the rest of the season.

First Period
02:40 WSH Brouwer (7), (Perrault, Backstrom)(PP)
08:23 TB St. Louis (4), (Pouliot, Lecavalier)

Second Period
05:09 WSH Fehr (2), (Perrault, Ward)

Third Period
02:22 WSH Fehr (3), (Perrault, Carlson)
07:29 WSH Beagle (1), (Schultz, Kundratek)
12:02 TB Purcell (3), (Stamkos)
16:47 TB Thompson (3), (St. Louis)

Nate Thompson was the game's third star.

Alex Killorn was -1 with 1 hit in 10:25.

Richard Panik was -1 with 1 shot and 2 hits in 8:32.

Cory Conacher was -2 with 2 shots and 2 hits in 16:56.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

Longtime Tampa Bay Lightning prospect goaltender Dustin Tokarski was traded this morning to the Montreal Canadiens for former Lightning goaltender Cedrick Desjardins.

Desjardins, 27, has appeared in 22 games this season with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League, compiling a record of 7-13-2 with a 2.94 goals-against average and .905 save percentage. The Edmundston, New Brunswick, native has played in two career NHL games, both with the Lightning during the 2010-11 season, picking up a pair of victories while recording a 1.00 goals-against average and .968 save percentage.

It's a loss, but it feels like a win.

MTL-4
TB-3 (SO)

Anders Lindback allowed 3 goals on 34 shots before allowing 1 of 2 shooters to convert in the penalty shot session for the shootout loss. He was magnificent in overtime, helping the team kill off a 4-on-3 PP. Absolutely magnificent. Here's the upshot with Anders: he still doesn't graduate from prospect status on this site until his next NHL decision. Tonight was just the second shootout in his NHL career. He's got a lot of time to gain experience and get better.

First Period
19:17 MTL Gionta (3), (Plekanec, Subban)(PP)

Second Period
8:21 MTL Subban (3), (Eller)
18:54 MTL Moen (1), (Eller, Armstrong)

Third Period
14:04 TB Hedman (3), (Pyatt, Pouliot)
18:17 TB Hedman (4), (Purcell, Salo)
19:16 TB Salo (1), (Lecavalier, St. Louis)(PP)

Overtime
NO SCORING

Shootout
MTL- Desharnais
TB- NONE

Victor Hedman and Anders Lindback were the game's first and second stars.

As any reader of this blog should know by now, being down by 3 goals in the third period is supposed to be a death sentence in professional hockey. Unofficially, I'll bet 98% of the time you don't come back from it. That's why cutting leads to 2 goals to give yourself a chance heading into the third period is so important. So, when a team beats the long odds to overcome a 3 goal deficit to steal a point like the Lightning did tonight, it's a big deal for that team's confidence and swagger. And the way the Lightning got the game tied tonight is they made their own luck and got a couple of bounces on their last 2 goals. I expect the team to really break out of their slump in the next game feeding off their performance in the third period tonight. This was a shootout loss that feels like a win, for sure.

Alex Killorn was +1 with 2 penalty minutes and 1 shot on goal in 10:53.

Richard Panik was -1 with 1 hit and 1 blocked shot in 9:58 in his NHL debut. As with Killorn's debut in the last game, we're proud papas on the site to see Panik make it to the show.

Cory Conacher was -1 with 2 hits in 14:15.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.