Credit: Twitter (@TBLightning)

The Tampa Bay Lightning has enjoyed a nice streak of hot play since CL last checked in, winning six games, losing one but also losing Norris Trophy-winning Victor Hedman to an undisclosed upper body injury that’ll see the All-Star defenseman sit through the weekend.

On Thursday night, the team — Eastern conference leaders with 17 points — closed out its two-night homestand by facing off against the Nashville Predators, which entered the game leading the Western conference with 18 points. This was by far the Bolts’ biggest game of the year, and they turned in a gutsy performance that ultimately fell short as the home crowd watched the boys outshoot Nashville 43-24 en route to losing 4-1.

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s solid power play — which entered the game having killed off 93.2 percent of the power plays it faced this year — clocked in early and worked to perfection after Brayden Point was called for holding the stick, but Andrei Vasilevskiy eventually fell victim to a nice Nashville deflection that saw a puck come off of Kyle Turris’ stick and into the Bolts’ net at 6:02.

Predators goalie Pekka Rinne was in net for the first time since being injured in an October 19 game against Calgary, and it looked like the five games off did the reigning Vezina Trophy winner some good as he stopped all 13 of the first period shots he faced. Despite some good chances for the Lightning, including several hustle plays from Bolts rookie Mathieu Joseph (who is somehow still looking for his first NHL goal), the Lighting went down 0-2 when the Predators’ Ryan Johansen placed an impeccable pass on the stick of Nashville captain Roman Josi who slammed it home with just six seconds left in the frame.

The Bolts could not convert on an early power play to open the second, but the team slugged it out, saw McDonagh and Stamkos block some hard shots, kept tapping at a formidable Nashville defense and outshot the Predators 17-4 in the frame. The Lightning forecheck and Cirelli line finally provided a spark just five minutes into the frame when a still-steely Rinne finally gave up a goal to Lightning defenseman Slater Koekkoek who sent a wide open shot over Rinne’s left shoulder to earn his first goal of the season.

Koekkoek, who missed games at the beginning of the season, opened the floodgates for the Lightning, which continued its offensive onslaught well into the third until the valiant effort eventually ran of steam when a late third period turnover morphed into a 2-on-1 rush and then a 3-1 goal deficit after Calle Jarnkrok put it home for the bad cats with just over three-minutes left in the game. Miikka Salomaki tallied an empty-netter to make it 4-1 Nashville.

There is no questioning the heart of this team, which reached deep after a lousy first period to eventually outshoot the Predators 43-24 while spending the last 40 minutes of the game making Nashville look nothing like the squad that pulled out to ean early two-goal lead. Braydon Coburn was impressive in the absence of Hedman, but at the end of the day the Lightning misses its stoic, scary and sturdy Norwegian God of hockey.

In all, the Bolts outhit the Predators 29-16, and will see Nashville again when the Bolts visit Music City, U.S.A. on November 19. The Lightning’s next game is on Saturday, November 3 when the team travels north to face the Montreal Canadiens as part of a three-game trip to Canada.

Check out the watch parties if you’re looking for a crew to enjoy the game with.

This article appears in Nov 1-8, 2018.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...