Saturday's victory also helped the @TBLightning set franchise benchmarks for wins and points in a calendar month (12-0-1, 25 points). #NHLStats #MTLvsTBL pic.twitter.com/K62snX3Mwo
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 30, 2018
The numbers have been crunched, and for now there’s nothing else to say except that the Tampa Bay Lightning are scary good. While many in the locker room were disappointed with a blown three-goal lead during Thursday night’s 6-5 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, the Bolts have continued to overcome injuries and even themselves en route to finding unique ways to win games (28 entering the game).
The visiting Montreal Canadiens entered Saturday night’s contest with just 20 wins under their belts, and while that’s good for just fourth in the Atlantic, the Habs have been on a surge, having won seven of their last 10 games, including a Friday night win against the Florida Panthers.
The Canadiens didn’t seem phased by their back-to-back games, either, and forced the Bolts to earn their 6-5 comeback win at Amalie Arena.
Fans looking for a high-scoring affair got it in a first period that saw the Bolts go down 2-0 after giving up a power play goal and then another just 16 seconds later. Bolts center Yanni Gourde snapped his 10-game goal drought and got the Lightning going with a nifty tip-in, and then Anton Stralman evened the game at 2-2 by banging one off the post with under three minutes left.
Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy — who faced 18 shots in the opening frame — let a soft attempt by the Canadiens’ Jordie Benn slip past him just 28 seconds later, however, and the period ended with the Bolts down 3-2.
This is art. 😍#MTLvsTBL | #GoBolts https://t.co/CtyqTsVOjq
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 30, 2018
Things started to look up in the second when Nikita Kucherov scored a power play goal to even the score at 3-3. Tyler Johnson and Mikhail Sergachev even linked up on a beautiful passing sequence that put the Bolts in the lead 4-3, but Vasilevskiy (who faced 14 shots in the frame) watched another pair of back-to-back goals get by him as the Canadiens took the lead back and headed into the locker room up 5-4.
Watching the Lightning allow 10 goals in its last two games is concerning, but the Bolts, once again, found a way in a third period propelled by the hard work of Adam Erne who cleaned up a rebound to even the game at 5-5 with 10:24 to go before scoring the game-winner with just 62 seconds left in the game.
The Lightning embarks on a three-game, West coast, road trip next week, and its next home game is on Tuesday, January 8. Puck drop for that contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets is at 7:30 p.m.
