The Lightning started their five game road trip in encouraging fashion. Goalie Ben Bishop made 33 saves as the Bolts snapped a two game losing streak by beating the San Jose Sharks 5-2 last night. It was the Bolts first win in San Jose since 2003. Tampa Bay was a resilient bunch, answering back each time the Sharks pulled to within one.
“Hopefully this gets the ball rolling a little bit. This is notoriously a tough trip around the league. If you can come out and get a win off the bat, it’s only going to help with confidence,” said captain Steven Stamkos.
Stamkos became the fourth player in the NHL this season to reach the 30 goal mark. With the Lightning struggling early in games of late, Stamkos lifted the Lightning as he scored the first goal of the contest with just 14.7 seconds left in the first period. The goal was a patented Stamkos one-timer from the point that beat Antti Niemi during a delayed penalty call. Alex Killorn scored for the first time in nine games. Ondrej Palat, Cedric Paquette and Ryan Callahan also netted goals, all in the third period. For Palat, it was his first goal in 11 games.
Ben Bishop was nothing short of outstanding in net, making big saves at big times. He stopped San Jose’s Tomas Hertl on a two-on-one halfway through the second period and robbed Matt Nieto late in the period to maintain the lead after Logan Couture scored.
Bishop had been pulled in two games of late and answered back nicely last night.
“It was important for me,” Bishop said. “You look at the last few games and the numbers aren’t where you want them to be. Then you watch the game and it’s like you’re doing the right things. It’s important not to change anything. It’s a long year of ups and downs; just try not to get too low, not too high.”
“This was a big game for Bish to get his mojo back,” Stamkos said. “I know we’ve been leaving him out to dry the last couple of starts, and he was fantastic for us. We knew (the pressure) was going to come. Every time you are in this building, they have some good players.”
Coach Jon Cooper said it best, “To come out and get a win in a really tough building to play in, I can’t say enough about the effort of the team, especially after St. Louis knocked us around a little bit. This team is exceptional. They are big, they are fast and they are strong in all areas of the ice, so to stand up to them, I’m pretty proud of the guys.”
Mark Barberio (healthy), Brenden Morrow (healthy), Radko Gudas (knee surgery) and Matt Carle (abdominal surgery) were the scratches.
The Lightning will visit the Los Angeles Kings tonight.
(Feature Photograph/Getty Images)
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