Settling down into Amalie Arena tonight with over 19,000 of my closest friends, the anguish of this past June's Stanley Cup Final Series loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 still slightly lingered. The electricity of the fans and chill of the ice could be felt throughout the arena, which some might say contributed to the Tampa Bay Lightning beating the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime. The win undeniably helped everyone quickly forget about the heartbreaking end to last season.
During the Lightning's short summer break, training camp ensued, trades were made, players were placed on and off the roster, and two major deals took place: the Lightning acquired backup goalie Kevin Poulin off of waivers from the New York Islanders on September 27th, as Vasilevskiy is out on the injured reserve list after unexpected surgery to remove a blood clot back in September. (Vasilevskiy is expected to make a full recovery and return to the ice in two to three months.) The Lightning also signed forward Erik Condra who has played the last three seasons for the Ottawa Senators. Condra replaces Brendan Morrow, who was not offered a new contract this season.
While neither team scored in the 1st period, the game was quickly amplified less than a minute and a half into the 2nd when Lightning defenseman Jason Garrison scored the first goal.
Philadelphia’s Matt Read tied the game at 1-1 with 9:46 left in the 2nd. Less than two minutes later, the Flyers took a 2-1 lead on a power-play goal from Brayden Schenn.
Before the period was over, Tampa Bay evened the score 2-2 on a power-play goal from Callahan.
After a scoreless 3rd period, the game went into overtime, where fans witnessed the new 3-on-3 overtime rule voted into the NHL by league commissioner Gary Escobar back in June. Here’s how it works:
-NUTS & BOLTS: It's 3-on-3 play for five sudden-death minutes.
-PENALTIES & POWER PLAYS: If a penalty is taken in overtime, the teams play 4-on-3. (Essentially, the team on the power play just adds another player.) If a second penalty is taken, the teams will play 5-on-3. If a penalty carries over from regulation, the teams will play at 4-on-3.
-“At no time will a team have fewer than three skaters on the ice during the overtime period."
-IF TIED AFTER OVERTIME: If a goal isn't scored, the game moves to a three-round shootout. Apply the same shootout rules as in previous years.
-BE MINDFUL PULLING YOUR GOALIE: If you pull your goalie for an extra attacker in overtime, and the other team scores into your empty net, you'll forfeit the one point you gained by forcing overtime.
Stamkos, Kucherov and Hedman led the way into OT. Lightning goalie Ben Bishop stopped the Flyers’ Scott Laughton on a penalty shot before Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Jason Garrison ended the game on a beautiful deke by scoring the history-making goal on a breakaway. This was Garrison’s second goal of the evening. There was so much action from start to finish that it was basically like hockey on crack. 3-on-3 hockey is pure insanity and it was everything we could have hoped for and more.
Hockey is back with a new season, and a new chapter. Tonight we were presented with a fresh start as the arena’s new banner was unveiled commemorating the Lightning's 2014-15 Eastern Conference Championship. Though the Lightning hit the ice as if last season never ended.
This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2015.