By Michael Wax
Behind a perfect power play, Jake Guentzel’s first hat trick as a Bolt, and a franchise-tying six points from Nikita Kucherov, the Lightning put up a touchdown and a two-point conversion up in an 8-3 win over Calgary on Thursday night:
Here are three things we saw from the win:
Rewards
In a season filled with ups and downs, as any other rookie has, Conor Geekie put together his best showing in a Lightning uniform in this matchup versus the Flames.
Even when the Lightning were in a tug-of-war with the flames, early on, Geekie was easily one of the best players on the ice for the Lightning. He generated plenty of scoring opportunities for himself and his linemates but still couldn’t figure out how to get on the score sheet to amplify his incredible game. Even in the second period, Geekie was denied on a breakaway, and it seemed like he wouldn’t be rewarded for such an impressive performance.
In the third, with the lightning already up 6-3, Brandon Hagel received an outlet pass from Anthony Cirelli to develop a two-on-one with Geekie. Hagel waited and waited before feathering a perfect pass onto the stick of Geekie , who made no mistake and finally got rewarded on the score sheet for his phenomenal performance.
By all accounts, it was Geekie’s best game as a pro. These are the types of performances that might not get him in the running for rookie of the year, but they will certainly help the Lightning win games, and at the end of the day that is all that matters in the eyes of the Bolts.
The Bug
The injury bug continues to rear its ugly head for the Tampa Bay Lightning this season.
First, some good news coming into this game: forward Anthony Cirelli was healthy enough to make his return after one game absence.
Every other piece of injury news the Lightning received was negative in this game. Still without defenseman Erik Cernak, who missed his second consecutive game, the Lightning were dealt another blow when captain and defenseman Victor Hedman was revealed to be a late scratch from the lineup due to a lower body injury. Steven Santini would make his Lightning debut in Hedman’s place, and Darren Raddysh would take Hedman’s spot on the power play.
In the second period, the injuries got even worse. After J.J. Moser fell in an attempted to re-acquire the puck, he fell and allowed Nazem Kadri to go in all alone on a breakaway. Moser would stay on the ice for a few extra seconds after the goal was scored, and eventually headed to the locker room for the second time in the game and did not return. For someone who was having a phenomenal game, the Lightning sorely missed him for the remainder of the contest.
Stopping the Snowball
The lightning had a fairly good season so far. But one thing that has crept into their game at certain points is a sense of doom during difficult scenarios.
There have been games so far this season where things go very well for a long stretches, and then one goal against turns into an avalanche of opportunities and goals against. So when the Flames scored two goals in a row to cut a 4-1 lead to 4-3 and started generating chances in the final minutes of the second, it felt/ like a forgone conclusion that they would eventually tie the game in the third. Thankfully, for the Lightning, they’re very first shift provided some relief.
As the Flames looked to clear the puck out of their own, Anthony Cirelli blocked it and immediately sent a shot towards the net that was blocked. The blocked shot came right to Brandon Hagel, and he didn’t make any mistake for his 13th goal of the year to reestablish a two goal lead for the Lightning.
The Lightning would go on to score four goals in total that period, but it's responses like these that the Lightning need more of when push comes to shove.
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