NHL Game Night: 10-13-18 Blue Jackets at Lightning
An imperfect snowman built by a resurgent power play.
CBJ-2
TB-8
Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed 2 goals on 32 shots for the victory. The team's PK, in particular, is not passing the eye test right now, but Vasilevskiy's been so sharp he's smoothing out the imperfections.
First Period
1:00 TB Hedman (1), (Johnson, Kucherov)
11:17 TB Paquette (1), (Gourde)
18:37 TB Gourde (1), (Sergachev, Johnson)(PP)
Second Period
8:14 CBJ Anderson (3), (Wennberg, Murray)
15:51 CBJ Bjorkstrand (1), (unassisted)
19:15 TB Point (1), (unassisted)
Third Period
1:40 TB Point (2), (Miller, Sergachev)(PP)
7:12 TB Killorn (1), (Stamkos, Miller)(PP)
13:02 TB Kucherov (1), (Palat, Coburn)
19:59 TB Miller (1), (Point, Stralman)(PP)
Brayden Point, Yanni Gourde, and J.T. Miller were the game's three stars.
After a couple of less than inspired efforts, the Lightning looked like they knew something had to change going into a game against Columbus. You better play hard against a John Tortorella coached team because you know they will out of fear of going to the hospital for having a fine Italian loafer removed from their nether-regions if they don't. Jon Cooper pulled the right strings with reconstituted lines that included re-assembling the old Triplets line, and with a little luck and some strong work by Vasilevskiy when called upon the team built a big 3-0 lead.
Unfortunately, the team reverted to sleep walking in the Second Period and were dominated by Columbus much of the frame. Thanks to Vasilevskiy, they were still clinging to a lead with under a minute before intermission when Brayden Point got a big breakthrough to re-establish a little breathing room. A Point power play goal after the intermission re-established the three goal cushion, and it was on to garbage time. In the end, the bulk of the Lightning's fireworks came from a power play that finally showed the needed urgency and ended up with four power play markers to show. Several Lightning players got some feel-good stats in this game, including Gourde, Point, Kucherov, and Miller all breaking the goal scoring tape on their 2018-2019 seasons.
Still plenty to work on as the team continues to strive toward a full sixty minute effort, but pinning a snowman on a team beats a punch in the face... or a backdoor 4-1 loss.
Mathieu Joseph was -1 with 1 shot and 2 hits in 13:06.
Anthony Cirelli was -1 with 3 hits and he was 33% on 12 draws in 13:53.
Adam Erne was -1 with 1 shot and 1 hit in 8:23.
Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.