By Jake Ricker
The Lightning took on the St. Louis Blues last night as they looked to start the road trip off right. Captain Steven Stamkos would enter the game with 499 career goals looking to become the 47th player in NHL history to reach 500 goals. Here are a few things we noticed from the win.
Nick Perbix
Perbix has been an excellent addition to the Lightning blue line, and he showed that again tonite. Perbix was solid defensively and was able to tally a goal. Unfortunately, Perbix would suffer an Injury in the second period and then not return in the third. Hopefully, Perbix will be able to return soon, as the Lightning will need him on this long road trip.
Steven Stamkos
Stamkos entered the night at 499 career goals. And he leaves with 499 career goals... But not for lack of trying. Stamkos had multiple great chances, including a shot off the post and two attempts at an Empty net. Stamkos has still played well overall, but the road to 500 has been a long one.
Defense
The Lightning's defense was not good in the first period, as they gave up a breakaway goal within the first few minutes. The entire first period was a struggle for the Lightning despite not giving up any more goals. Luckily it got better as the game went on, and by the third period, they were able to hold it down.
Jon Cooper mentioned that the Lightning needed to be a better team when they got back from this trip. They got off on the right start, but there is defiantly some room for improvement on the defensive side of things.
Special Teams
The Lightning have been excellent on social teams as of late. Tonite, the Bolts would go 1/2 on the power play and 3/3 on the penalty kill. This has been a huge reason for some of the Lightning's success, and it was again helpful in this game.
The Lightning rank 2nd on the power play at 29.2 percent and 10th on the penalty kill at 81.3 percent. If the special teams can continue to trend upward, it would be a huge boost for the Lightning, who have not had as much scoring from the bottom six as in years past. One more huge chance to tie the game, but Vasilevskiy made one heck of a save to get the Lightning the win.
Three Stars
1. Point (TBL)
2. Perbix (TBL)
3. Stamkos (TBL)
The Lightning's next game will be against the Seattle Kraken on Monday, January 17th, at 4:00 PM ET.
Want to start your journalism career by writing about the Tampa Bay Lightning? Send us a message via our contact form located in the upper right-hand corner under the more tab, or send us a message via Twitter to get started.
Comments