18
0
Lightning do it to Sunrise again.
TB-2
FLA-1
Tampa Bay Leads the Series 2-0
Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed one goal on 37 shots for the victory. I actually think he got outplayed by Bobrovsky tonight and the one goal he allowed was a softie that usually ends up being the margin of losing. But the team defended and blocked shots so well in front of him tonight it helped cover that he wasn’t tracking the puck as well as in Game One.
First Period
12:06 TB Perry (4), (Stamkos, Hedman)(PP)
Second Period
18:07 FLA Luostarainen (1), (Forsling, Giroux)
Third Period
19:58 TB Colton (5), (Kucherov, Palat)
Ross Colton and Vasilevskiy were the game’s first and second stars.
Another near perfect larceny by the Lightning. They absorbed Sunrise’s attempt to push in the first five minutes of the game and eventually turned the pace of the game the second half of the opening frame in their favor en route to potting a power play goal. They then strangled the life out of Sunrise for most of the Second Period until the soft goal late in the period gave them life. They put the Lightning on their heels the first half of the Third Period with a big push, but the Lightning again defended well and blocked a ton of shots before wrestling the pace of the game back to their liking the second half of the final frame. And then MacKenzie Weegar reminded the world what garbage he is in his own end of the rink in the waning seconds completely blowing coverage of the front of the net and giving Ross Colton the winning marker at the death. Cue the classy fans in Sunrise with their freshly bought jerseys raining trash down on the rink. Garbage franchise. Garbage fans.
The Lightning roll back into Tampa with all the house’s money. A split at home probably dooms Sunrise, and as far into their heads as the Lightning have intruded, a win in Game Three probably makes a sweep a fait accompli because psychologically the Lightning just own them. No need at all to rush Brayden Point back now. I wouldn’t even entertain it until Game 5, which means the team just bought him an extra week to recover. Just another clinical job by Tampa Bay similar to Game One and Game Two in the series last year.
Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.
