By Jake Ricker
Notable Missing Players
TBL MLT
Kucherov (Injury) Price
Point (Injury) Webber (Injury)
Cernak (Injury)
Game Summary
1st Period
The Canadians came out strong early in the period, as many teams have done against the Bolts this season. Vasy and the Bolts defense held strong and kept the Habs off the board.
The Bolts would then strike back as Pat Maroon spun around and slid the puck into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Both teams would then get an opportunity on the power play, but the penalty-killing units would prevail.
Despite another less than ideal start to the period, the Bolts excelled where it mattered most and would lead it 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.
2nd Period
The Canadians would again come out strong in the early minutes of the period, but the Bolts were able to hold them off. But the Habs kept pushing, and Suzuki was eventually able to cash in on a rebound and tie the game at one.
Things then continued to fall apart for the Lightning as the Habs kept pushing. A few minutes later, it was Hoffman who found the back of the net to give the Habs a 2-1 lead.
The Lightning could just not create many chances, and when they did, they were easily turned away. Credit, the Canadians, though, as they were playing slime of their best hockey and took advantage of the Bolt's mistakes.
The Bolts would finally get some momentum back as they made a push late in the period. While they couldn't tie the game up, they would draw a late power play. They would head to the second intermission trailing 2-1 but with some time still left on the power play.
3rd Period
The Bolts finally got off to the better start, but even on the man's advantage, they could not tie this one up.
Despite the Bolt's best efforts, the Canadians eventually pushed back. Thanks to Vasy best efforts, he kept it a one-goal hockey game.
The Lightning once again gained the momentum and put on their best shifts of the night. But no matter how hard they tried, they just could not find a way to tie this game up.
With under 3 minutes to go, the Lightning would send of the extra attacker with the net empty, and they would finally cash in. Corey Perry worked the front of the net and fired the puck home to tie the game at two.
With overtime looming, the Canadiens were ready to take things to overtime, but the Bolts had other plans. Killorn showed great patience and got the puck to Palat, who made a great move to give the Lightning a 3-2 lead.
The Bolts held off the Habs for the final few seconds and succeeded the win as the horn sounded.
Game Stats
TBL MTL
27 Shots on Goal. 23
49 Face-off % 51
0/3 Power play 0/1
19 PIM 13
14 Hits 18
7 Blocks 21
13 Giveaways 20
3 Takeaways 6
Our Three Stars
1.Palat (TBL)
2. Suzuki (MTL)
3. Perry (TBL)
Media's Three Stars
1.Palat (TBL)
2. Suzuki (MTL)
3. Perry (TBL)
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