The Tampa Bay Lightning came in to Monday night ahead of the ninth-place Carolina Hurricanes by six points in the Eastern Conference standings and riding a three-point winning streak; both were numbers they hoped to extend. The Bolts accomplished that goal, blowing by the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1.
Tampa Bay got off to a quick start in this one, when forward Dominic Moore scored his sixth goal of the year to give the Bolts a 1-0 lead at the 5:48 mark of the first period. Carolina was able to answer right back, though, when Sergei Samsonov scored his sixth goal of the year. The play broke down when Jeff Skinner fanned on a shot; the puck slid to Samsonov, who beat Lightning goaltender Dan Ellis. Ellis got the surprise start when Mike Smith tweaked his knee in the morning skate. The Lightning took the lead late in the period when Marty St. Louis beat Carolina goaltender Justin Peters with what can only be described as a perfect shot with exactly one second left on the clock; for St. Louis, it was his 13th goal of the year.
This article appears in Dec 16-22, 2010.