Lightning's Bid for Franchise Record Twelfth Straight Win Denied By Hot Hofer in St. Louis
- Riley Gillespie-Wilson
- Jan 17
- 3 min read
Riley Gillespie-Wilson | Thunderstruck Sports
The Tampa Bay Lightning had a chance to win a twelfth straight game on Friday night in St. Louis, something no Bolts team has ever accomplished. Instead, they fell just short of the feat in a shootout. Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist, but the night belonged to Blues goaltender Joel Hofer who was incredible in the 3-2 Lightning loss.
Puck Pursuit Evident in Quick Start
Early in the game the Bolts were noticeably quick to loose pucks and fast with their cycle game. Hofer was excellent for St. Louis, notably robbing Jake Guentzel who was straight to the IPad on the Lightning bench.
Nikita Kucherov had a slew of touches, many of them creating dangerous looks for Tampa Bay.
Blues Double Down Late
It was Hofer's stellar play that boosted the home Blues, who eventually, cashed in.
St. Louis managed to score twice in just thirty seconds in the waning moments of the opening frame. The first tally came off the stick of Jake Neighbours, who took a fortunate bounce and made it count at the side of the Lightning net.
It was then a turnover in the deep slot that was shoveled along to Nick Bjugstad. He made no mistake, and magically, the Blues had scored twice in half a minute to close the period.
Ice Tilted Despite Deficit
Tampa Bay had outshot the Blues 11-7 and found themselves down 2-0 after the first period.
They had spent the majority of that frame inside Blues ice. While they did close the stanza by taking its only penalty, it's still safe to say the Bolts wouldn't want to change much about their game to start Period 2.
Keep pushing, and hopefully solve Hofer.
Special Teams Turns Second Period
Tampa Bay had 40 seconds left to kill in that Blues power play to begin the second period. They did so thanks to a nice stop by Andrei Vasilevskiy.
From there, it was two goals on a brief two-man advantage that propelled a Lightning team that had dominated the first, to success on the scoreboard in the second.
The 2-1 tally came in just a 12-second 5-on-3, allowing time for another goal on the 5-on-4.
First, a Nikita Kucherov one-timer found twine.
Kucherov then had his fingerprints all over the game's tying goal, grabbing an assist on a nice finish from Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Twenty Minutes to History
The Bolts had a massive advantage in shot attempts after 40 minutes. That statistic read 55-20 in favor of the Lightning.
Shots on net were 26-12 Tampa Bay.
All that aside, the game was tied at two goals apiece. While Head Coach Jon Cooper and the Lightning would likely downplay it, what Brian Engblom called a "dangling carrot" was within reach. History was right in front of the Bolts heading to the third.
Tight-Checking
The final frame didn't see a ton of chances for either team. Both locked down defensively and the Lightning didn't rack up the Grade-A chances they were accustom to seeing earlier in the tilt.
They did however have a 34-17 SOG advantage after regulation. This one needed overtime.
Chaos in Extra Frame
The 3-on-3 overtime delivered entertainment, including a near-miss for Jake Guentzel at the side of the net and a crazy sequence in which JJ Moser lost his stick. He was run into the wall but recovered just in time to break up the best St. Louis chance.
Despite the end-to-end action, the Lightning's chance to re-write their history books would come in a shootout.
Close but No Cigar
Tampa Bay ultimately fell just short of the 12th straight win, losing this one off a lone shootout marker from Jordan Kyrou.
It's safe to say they were "goalie'd" pretty hard in this one, as Hofer was excellent in both the game and the shootout to pick up the win for his Blues despite a great effort from the Bolts.
Even though the streak died in terms of wins, the shootout loss earned the Lightning another point, good enough for a 12-game point streak.
Three Stars of the Game
Joel Hofer - STL
Jake Neighbours - STL
Nikita Kucherov - TBL
Up Next
The Bolts are back at it on Sunday in a matinee against a tough Dallas Stars team, before hosting the Sharks on Tuesday night. Puck drop in Dallas on Sunday is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
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