2
0
Lightning concede another skirmish with an eye on winning the war.
TB-0
FLA-4
Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed four goals on 30 shots for the loss.
First Period
15:19 FLA Weegar (6), (Marchment, Lammikko)
Second Period
8:23 FLA Lammikko (4), (unassisted)(SH)
Third Period
2:27 FLA Verhaeghe (18), (Duclair, Barkov)
14:07 FLA Wennberg (17), (Gudas, Yandle)
The Lightning once again held Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh out of the lineup and went a step further tonight by holding Ondrej Palat out too. I’m a little surprised they didn’t put their first choice lineup out to try to win home ice tonight, but it points to the degree to which the Lightning are banged up and the strategic value the team places on getting a full week’s rest for key pieces like Hedman and McDonagh. It also points to one sensible truth: if the Lightning win G1 or G2 in Sunrise, it renders the regular season series moot and meaningless in one fell swoop. Risky? Maybe. The momentum is certainly with Florida right now. But, they’ll arguably be facing a completely different Tampa Bay team come next Sunday.
Alex Barre-Boulet was -1 with 1 shot and 1 hit in 13:17. I suspect we won’t see him much in the playoffs with Kucherov and Stamkos returning.
Mitchell Stephens had 3 hits in 12:57 and was 63% on 8 draws.
Ross Colton was -3 with 5 shots, 2 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 13:55.
Daniel Walcott was -1 with 5 penalty minutes, 1 shot and 7 hits in 10:03. He’s been a very good soldier for the organization in the minors for a long time and I know a lot of folks who were very happy for him to get his NHL debut tonight. I just wish it could’ve been less of a stinker. A fight and 7 hits at least means he got his licks in, though. He didn’t waste his night.
Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.
