Bolts Drill Oilers, Clinch Playoff Berth

By: Tyler Santana

Overview

The Bolts came into this 2^nd half of a back to back looking to stop the bleeding dropping their previous 2. It started horrendous, as a misplay by Louis Domingue ended up in a very early bad goal for Edmonton. The Bolts would come back though and looked dominate for most of the game to follow. They would pull out a 3-1 victory and clinched a playoff berth today as well after the Ducks beat the Devils.

1^st Period

The Bolts wanted to start fast in this game, and while the game did start fast, it wasn’t how they wanted. Edmonton dumped in the puck after winning the opening faceoff and Louis Domingue misplayed the puck, where an opportunistic Ty Rattie would pounce and throw the puck in off Domingue to give the Oilers a very early 1-0 lead. Not good, and definitely not how the Bolts wanted to start after dropping their last two contests. The Lightning would prove very resilient though and swung play right back the other way, putting as much vulcanized rubber on Al Montoya as they could, but nothing slipped in. The Bolts would then get some powerplay opportunities but would come up unsuccessful despite their great chances. Then with less than 5 minutes left in the opening period, Victor Hedman fired a puck past Montoya for a real “Swede” looking goal, 1-1 Hockey game. The period would come to a close just as it started with a tie game.

Shots 16-8 Bolts

Score 1-1

2^nd Period

The Bolts came out looking to play hard and take a lead. They would get a chance on the Powerplay after a trip and wouldn’t miss as Nikita Kucherov ripped a puck home on a pass from The Captain to give the Bolts the lead. The Lightning would then take a penalty however and every Bolts fan put their face in their hands like here we go again. This PK today looked better though, the aggressiveness that sometimes lacks from the unit was their and they kept it mostly quiet, although Domingue made a beautiful RIGHT glove save (little love for full right goalies, they’re pretty great). They were able to kill two penalties right in a row and looked good doing it. The period would come to a close with the Bolts playing very well and looking to close it down in the third.

Shots 30-16

Score 2-1 Bolts

3^rd period

The Bolts went back to the PK early and didn’t disappoint, delivering a great kill including Ryan McDonugh blocking shots like Dikembe Mutombo (no no no). After killing the penalty, Nikita Kucherov picked up the puck in the slot and slid home a backhand shot to double up the Bolts lead. The Lightning penalty kill got its work in, after a questionable Yanni Gourde faceoff violation penalty the Bolts would also get tagged with a high stick, leaving 30 seconds of 5-on-3 for the Bolts to defend and defend they did, leaving the Oilers 0 for 5 on the powerplay. The Bolts would stay out of the box from there and kept the game calm, culminating in a 3-1 victory for the Lightning and an end to their losing skid.

Shots 40-30 Bolts

Bolts win 3-1

3 Stars

1^st Star: Nikita Kucherov (2G)

2^nd Star: Steven Stamkos (2A)

3^rd Star: Louis Domingue (29 SV, 1 GAA)

What’s next

We host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, March 20^th at 7:30 pm.