Offense comes alive ending the road trip with three straight wins

Not only did the offense show up, but the young guns also contributed helping the Lightning propel past the Predators and extend the win streak to end the road trip. Anthony Cirelli reached a career milestone, and Andrei Vasilevskiy saw his win streak against Nashville reach ten games. After a rough start to the season, it seems the team is getting it together and have results to back that up.

In the opening minutes Brayden Point was called for tripping meaning the penalty kill had to get going early. So far this season the Lightning have been able to kill about 75% of penalties surrendering only four power play goals. Tonight started off no different but Nashville did come close to scoring. Then, the Lightning went on the power play with Adam Wilsby called for interference. Just like the Predators, Tampa could not score on the man advantage and the game remained scoreless. Nashville continued to disrupt passes by the Lightning keeping them from getting a good chance at scoring. Half the period went by with yet a goal to be seen but that would change quickly.

Lightning would strike first thanks to a snapshot from Zemgus Girgensons. Girgensons went to the front of the net while Yanni Gourde and Pontus Holmberg moved the puck behind the net before passing it to Girgensons for the goal. Next, Nashville would get their best chance of the period on a 3-on-1 rush, but the puck would never reach the net thanks to a block by J.J. Moser. Afterwards, Tampa received a power play with 2:32 to go while Cirelli was not seen on the bench. Predators killed off that penalty and the period ended with the Bolts still leading 1-0.

To begin, Ryan McDonagh nearly scores but is stopped by Juuse Saros and Cirelli was back on the ice to start the period. Offense looked much better and the Lightning continued to play a complete game despite not adding to their lead as of yet. Later on, Jake Guentzel had a breakaway opportunity but that was disrupted by Nashville's defense. Credit had to be given to Saros for keeping the Predators in the game despite Tampa controlling the flow. There was not much to speak of until Tampa went on their third power play with 6:31 left in the second.

On the power play Dominic James generated multiple chances but again Saros continued to be stellar in net. Erik Haula nearly cut the lead 2-1 on the penalty kill but Vasilevskiy was able to read the puck well enough to nullify that chance. However, immediately after the power play expired all that hard work by James would be rewarded. Brandon Hagel scored to extend the lead 2-0 and it was only a matter of time before Tampa would squeak one past Saros. With under a minute left Nashville was called for too many men giving another power play to the Bolts that would carry over into the third.

To kick off the third period Nashville's power play would remain perfect as the score remained 2-0. Michael Bunting was sent off for slashing and Charlie-Edouard D'Astous was given a minor for roughing which was due to being slashed. 4-on-4 hockey would be the end result and eventually would turn into a power play for the Predators. On said power play Luke Evangelista scored to cut the lead 2-1. This was the worst the Lightning looked all game, but it would only take a few minutes for them to answer back. D'Astous regained a two-goal lead for the Bolts with his first career goal, and it was a perfectly placed wrister to make it 3-1 Lightning.

With an assist on the goal Cirelli recorded his 300^th career point and the offense continued to deliver. Another power play was killed off by the Lightning with under half the period to go and at this point victory was on the horizon. With about four minutes left in the game Nashville decided to pull Saros and this gamble would pay off. Filip Forsberg scores with nearly two minutes left in the game to make it a one goal game. Any fear of this game getting out of hand was eradicated thanks to an empty net goal by Nikita Kucherov with under a minute left. The offense did not stop there and Girgensons netted his second goal of the game to add the cherry on top on this win.

At last Tampa looked like their old selves and defeated the Nashville Predators 5-2 extending the win streak to 3 games. No doubt the offense came to play and this is what everyone wanted to see to start the season. It was only a matter of time before the team finally started to click and string some wins together. Bolts will return home Thursday to welcome in the Dallas Stars.

Three Stars of the game

1st Star: Zemgus Girgensons - 2 goals

2nd Star: Charle-Edouard D'Astous - First career goal

3rd Star: Anthony Cirelli - 2 assists