Nikita Kucherov, Ryan Callahan, Vladislav Namestnikov and Alex Killorn scored and Ben Bishop stopped 25 of 27 shots to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning over the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 at Amalie Arena tonight. It was Tampa Bay’s 40th win of the season and they improved to 25-6-1 at home.
The first period saw both teams start slow with the Lightning picking up the offense halfway through and the defense not giving up very many scoring chances. The number one line of Steven Stamkos, Alex Killorn and Ryan Callahan were dominant.
Nikita Kucherov opened the scoring with his 24th of the season at 4:25 from Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson. Palat was patient and waited to thread a beautiful pass to a wide open Kucherov who sniped a wrist shot past Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier. It was Kucherov’s tenth point in his last 13 games.
At 15:17 the Bolts made it 2-0 as Ryan Callahan scored his 21st goal of the season when his slap shot was deflected by ex-Bolt defenseman Eric Brewer past Bernier. The goal was assisted by Steven Stamkos.
Bolts goalie Ben Bishop wasn’t very busy in the first period as the Maple Leafs only mustered seven shots on goal to the Lightning’s 13.
The second period saw Cedric Paquette give the puck away in the neutral zone, leading to a Toronto two-on-one resulting in David Booth beating Ben Bishop for his second goal of the season at 6:48. The goal was assisted by Peter Holland.
According to beat writer Erik Erlendsson, the goal snapped Lightning’s home shutout streak at 147 minutes and53 seconds which was 5:08 short of setting the franchise home record.
The Lightning at one point in the second period went 9:58 without a shot on goal.
Shots in the period were 10-7 in favor of Tampa Bay.
The Lightning started the third period with 1:14 left in their first power play, but were unable to convert.
The Bolts took a 3-1 lead at 6:31 when the just recalled Vladislav Namestnikov redirected an Andrej Sustr wrist shot. Victor Hedman. also earned an assist on Namestnikov’s fourth of the season.
On their third attempt, the Bolts scored a power play goal at 15:14 as Alex Killorn netted his 13th goal and first power play goal of the season. The goal was assisted by Stamkos and Jason Garrison.
The Maple Leafs added a late goal at 17:42 as ex-Bolt Richard Panik redirected a Dion Phaneuf shot past a screened Ben Bishop.
The Lightning outshot the Maple Leafs 31-27.
Ten separate Bolts made the scoresheet tonight.
Goalie Ben Bishop is now forth in the NHL in victories with 32.
Tampa Bay pulls to within one point of the Atlantic Division leading Montreal Canadiens pending the outcome of their game with the Kings tonight.
J.T. Brown (upper body), Mark Barberio (healthy) and Matt Carle (abdominal surgery) were the scratches.
The Lightning will host the Dallas Stars Saturday night.
(Feature Photograph/Getty Images)
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