Second period score fest commands Lightning to back-to-back wins

Graphic Credit: Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports

By Robert Hazou | Thunderstruck Sports

The score fest continued in Vancouver with a four goal second period leading to another blowout victory on the road trip. Right out of the gate the offense was clicking and the team as a whole played a more complete games with only a minor hiccups. After a rough stretch post-Olympics, we are now seeing the squad that was dominating the league for 20+ games.

Clicking early

While both teams were moving the puck well the first shot on net would not occur until four minutes went by. Rather than passing the puck, Brandon Hagel opted to shoot the puck on a 2-on-1 which was saved by Kevin Lankinen. For once Tampa was doing a great job transitioning the puck out of their zone and applying pressure on offense. Jake DeBrusk looked to strike first for Vancouver but instead the puck rung off the post and the game remained scoreless. Gage Goncalves had a chance to score off a turnover with ample room yet that was also saved by Lankinen.

Rewarded for the constant pressure

Then, Jake Guentzel tried to open the scoring but ran into the goaltender instead. Thankfully, nobody was injured and play resumed with no stoppage following that particular play. No matter what the offense could generate the puck seemed to be allergic to the back of the net for the Bolts. At this rate is was only a matter of time before the Lightning would score a goal. Vancouver received the first power play of the night with J.J. Moser sent off for tripping with 5:23 left in the first. Lightning killed off the penalty and eventually opened up the scoring. Guentzel deflected the shot from Charle-Edouard D'Astous while screening Lankinen gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead late in the period.

Let the score fest begin

Second period began with the Lightning continuing to apply pressure on the Canucks defense. Lankinen was unable to grab his stick, and Darren Raddysh rifled the puck to double the Bolts lead 2-0. Soon after, Hagel nearly made it a 3-0 game, but Lankinen robbed him glove side astonishing both Hagel and the bench. That would not matter after Yanni Gourde tipped in Raddysh's shot to extend the lead 3-0. Tampa's offense showed no signs of slowing down with Nikita Kucherov now scoring to make it a 4-0 score fest prompting Vancouver to use their timeout with 14:29 left in the period.

Vancover breaks the ice

Victor Hedman was not seen on the bench as he left to the locker room with an apparent injury sustained in the first period. Eventually, Vancouver would end the shootout with Liam Ohgren scoring to cut the lead 4-1 with over seven minutes left in the second. Canucks nearly added a second goal while in transition, but Andrei Vasilevskiy was able to make the save. Erik Cernak blocked a shot from Brock Boeser that caused him to leave to the locker room, but he would soon go back to the bench. That was a sigh of relief as the Lightning already lost Hedman to an injury in this game. Vancouver would get their second power play of the game with just over a minute left.

Error cuts the lead to two goals

Canucks began the third period with 49 seconds left on the power play that carried over from the second period. The penalty was killed off, and the Lightning immediately had a 3-on-1 opportunity that they could not take advantage of. Once again, Hedman still did not return to the bench, and the team would have to finish the game without him. Ohgren looked to score his second of the game but again the puck goes off the iron instead and the score remained 4-1. A mishandle of the puck by Raddysh allowed Marco Rossi to score and make it a two-goal game.

Another night of half a dozen goals

Immediately, Anthony Cirelli answered back with his 17^th of the season to make it a 5-2 game and silence the crowd yet again. The goal was looked at for a possible kicking motion, but the goal stayed on the board with Vancouver opting not to challenge it. Hagel scored to match the total number of goals from Tuesday's night game with six. Canucks took an extended look at the goal to challenge it for offside but again opted not to challenge. With 3:34 to go, Tampa would get their first penalty of the night as if they needed to score any more goals. The score fest was too much for the Canucks to the handle and the Lightning cruised to a 6-2 victory and their second straight on the road trip.

Up next

Next on the road trip is a showdown with Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. Kucherov is now only one point away from tying McDavid for the league lead in points after picking up 3 tonight. Saturday should be an entertaining one for that reason and will be well worth staying up for.

Three stars of the night

1st star: Nikita Kucherov - 1 goal and 2 assists

2nd star: Anthony Cirelli - 1 goal and 2 assists

3rd star: Darren Raddysh: 1 goal and 1 assist