In a tightly contested game, the Tampa Bay Lightning fell 6-4 in their first-ever trip to the Delta Center.
The first 20 minutes were all Utah. The Lightning seemed to be sleepwalking and couldn’t get their feet under them. As a result, goaltender Brandon Halverson had to withstand a lot of pressure from a team fighting for their playoff life in the Western Conference.
With the pressure coming in waves, the Lightning defense cracked. Josh Doan, son of former Arizona Coyotes great Shane Doan, shoveled the puck past Halverson for an early 1-0 lead.
Late in the opening frame, Logan Cooley scored the first of two goals this game to give Utah a two goal advantage.
Finally, the Lightning woke up and started buzzing. A penalty late gave the Bolts a power play. Brayden Point didn’t miss, beating Karel Vejmelka from in tight to cut Utah’s lead in half, 2-1.
The middle frame saw the momentum and scoring swing back and forth. Anthony Cirelli finished off a pretty passing play with Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov to pull the Lightning back even.
Unfortunately, Halverson couldn’t make a save when the team needed it most. Alex Kerfoot scored less than a minute after Cirelli tied things to restore Utah’s lead, 3-2.
Near the end of the second period, Jake Guentzel tipped a Nick Perbix shot past Vejmelka to tie the game at three.
Once again, Utah struck quickly to take back the lead. Cooley beat Halverson, making it 4-3.
The Lightning started out slow in the final period. That ended up biting them, as Nick Schmaltz fired the puck past Halverson to give Utah their first two goal lead since the first period.
Point scored his second of the game a minute and a half later to pull the Lightning back within one, 5-4.
A late chance with the man advantage and Halverson pulled for the extra attacker yielded a few good chances, but nothing went in. Kerfoot then sealed things with a shorthanded, empty net goal.
Looking ahead, the Lightning have a quick turnaround. They play the Vegas Golden Knights in Las Vegas on Sunday night, March 23. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 pm EST.
ITR 36: Coaching Carousel – Inside The Rink
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