6
0
JBB’s deadline plan starts to come together.
TB-6
BOS-2
Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed two goals on 12 (not a typo) shots for the victory. That included not facing a shot on goal in the Second Period. My goodness.
First Period
2:22 TB Hedman (12), (Gourde, Raddysh)
15:58 BOS Lindholm (12), (Peeke, Lauko)
Second Period
2:13 TB Paul (20), (Lilleberg, Goncalves)
7:22 TB Cirelli (21), (McDonagh, Gourde)
17:08 TB Raddysh (5), (Lilleberg, Paul)
Third Period
0:23 BOS Khusnutdinov (4), (Jokiharju, Lindholm)
16:31 TB Hagel (31), (Kucherov, Cernak)(EN)
19:15 TB Cirelli (22), (Hedman)(EN)
Nick Paul and Yanni Gourde were the game’s first and second stars.
The contrast between tonight and the Lightning’s last outing against Boston could not be starker. With Nikita Kucherov out of his sick bed, the Lightning presented itself as a legitimate three line team with boa constrictor tight defensive play as they outshot Boston 40-12 in the contest. Yes, it’s a Boston team that’s a shell of itself after its deadline sell off, but the team Julien BriseBois thought this could be started to really gel together tonight at the completion of this road trip.
And, with Sunrise and Toronto both wetting the bed tonight, the Lightning have tied Toronto at 81 points and are four points back of the Aaron Ekblad’s “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Steroids” Warehouse (next to the all new Brad Marchand Bite/Lick-atorium) with a game in hand. Can the Lightning shoot the gap to win the Atlantic Division and let the Leafs and Sunrise kill each other in the opening round of the playoffs? That dream is very much alive at this hour.
Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.
