TAMPA BAY, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the Calgary Flames last night, Feb. 27, at Amalie Arena to finish their three-game homestand. During the previous night, the team also hosted an Alberta neighbour to Calgary, the Edmonton Oilers, when the Bolts shut them down 4-1.
Since last night, the Lightning have picked up seven straight wins, their longest streak since Feb. 2020. Since returning from the Four Nations break, the Bolts began a 3-game homestand, two games against Alberta teams, and have won all three matchups.
For last night’s game, Dustin Wolf started in net for Calgary, and Andrei Vasilevskiy started in net for Tampa. Vasilevskiy earned another shutout, adding to his exceptional record this season and reaching the milestone of 38 career shutouts in the NHL.
During this heated and chippy matchup, Nikita Kucherov opened the scoring with just 45 seconds remaining in the frame when his shot deflected off the skate of a Flames defender and went past Wolf. In the middle frame, Calgary drew a penalty in the first minute of play but could barely set up any quality shots on Vasilevskiy, as the Bolts did a very solid job on the penalty kill (PK).
As such, after another twenty minutes, neither team put a goal on the board. But going into the third, the Lightning sealed the deal with insuring goals to close out the game.
Over three minutes into the period, Erik Cernak ripped one past the blocker side of Wolf from a set up by Brandon Hagel.
Then, as time winded down, Calgary pulled Wolf for the extra attacker, all to quickly regret the scheme when Hagel capitalised on the empty net.
For fewer shots on goal, the Bolts won this game by a three-goal margin. Overall, Tampa had 22 giveaways compared to Calgary’s 17; Calgary also had more faceoff wins and hits than the home team.
The Flames outplayed the Bolts, but it did not show in the results, which is a tough break for a team trying for a playoff spot.
Three Stars
- Vasilevskiy (27-save shutout, 38th career shutout)
- Erik Cernak (1 goal)
- Dustin Wolf (21 saves)
The Lightning will hit the road to face Gretzky’s goal record chaser, Alexander Ovechkin, and his Washington Capitals on March 1 at 12:30 p.m.
ITR 44: We Have A Champion…Again – Inside The Rink
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