Stamkos Ties Franchise Goal Record as the Bolts Win Their 15th Straight vs Red Wings

Overview

This game seemed to be a rare off night from the Lightning. While it was still a subpar effort to their standards, the Bolts rallied from a 3-0 hole to win 5-4 in Detroit. Kucherov recorded another 4 point outing and Steven Stamkos tied Vinny Lecavalier’s team record for most franchise goals at 383. Vasilevskiy also played, and won, in his 200th NHL game. Same line up as Toronto game with Stralman, Girardi & Callahan scratched.

1st Period

From the drop of the puck you could see that Detroit was playing stiff in the middle of the ice and shutting down the passing lanes. This forced some bad turnovers from the Lightning and a little frustration as the Bolts allowed a shorthanded goal in the period. Vasy would be beat by a screened shot from Bowey early on and later, he would see a shot from Darren Helm go five-hole on a shorthanded 2 on 1. Down 2-0 at the end of the period, the Bolts took an extra 20 minutes to get into this game.

2nd Period

Not much shifted in the 2nd aside from momentum. Abdelkader would score on a semi breakaway beating Vasy on a cross crease move to make it 3-0. Later in the period, Stamkos would score on the power play to become the co leader in franchise goals and make it 3-1. Bolts were slowly coming back into the game and the goal by Stamkos made a comeback a little more real.

3rd Period

Jon Cooper went into his line blender and put Stamkos, Kucherov and Point together which would lead to a Point goal in less than 3 minutes in. Some tick tack passing allowed Point to have 2 good chances and bury it past Howard. About 8 mins into the period, Kucherov would get a pass from Hedman after a face off win and sniped a water bottle blasting one timer top shelf to tie the game at 3 on the power play. 30 seconds later, Tyler Johnson redirected a Cernak shot past Howard as he reached with his glove. Just like that, 4-3 Lightning. Throughout the period the Bolts controlled most of the play and Vasilevskiy pulled out some more highlight reel saves from his bag of tricks stoping Athanasiou with a glove and then a horizontal reach back. With 4 minutes to go, Stamkos would win a battle and find Point who fluttered a pass to Kuch skating parallel to the net and roofed one blocker side on Howard to make it 5-3 Lightning and make it another 4 point game for Kucherov. That would give him 115 on the season. Detroit would pull the goalie and get one back late, but the Bolts held on to a 5-4 comeback win in Little Caesars Arena.

Final Thoughts

It was a slow and kind of ugly start for the Bolts but they showed why they are the best team in the league. They remained composed and fought back with 5 unanswered goals after being down 3-0. The best players were their best as Kuch, Stammer, Point & Vasy led by example. Stamkos and Kucherov each continue to set and break records. Next game is at home Saturday vs Washington. Go Bolts!