Fresh off of a losing road trip to begin 2024, the Tampa Bay Lightning came home on a mission to start a winning streak that would vault them back into playoff contention.
It wasn’t easy, but with one game remaining in this current four-game home stand, they have accomplished what they set out to do. They are 3-0-0 in the past three games and have vaulted into the second Wild Card spot as of January 17.
The Lightning first hosted a Los Angeles Kings team that was in a dogfight with the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights for second place in the Pacific Division before a recent 1-9 stretch that saw them blow numerous games in the final period or overtime.
After spotting the Kings a two-goal lead in the second period, the Lightning came out on a mission in the third. They finally broke through with under eight minutes left in regulation, as Tyler Motte beat Cam Talbot to cut the lead in half. Brandon Hagel took it from there, scoring to tie the game with under five minutes remaining. He then drove the Bolts offense in overtime, finding defenseman Nick Perbix with room to maneuver. Perbix took a perfect pass and beat Talbot for his first goal this season. That victory secured head coach Jon Cooper’s 500th NHL win.
Next, the Lightning welcomed the New Jersey Devils to Amalie Arena. Going down by a goal early, they recovered to make it 3-1 midway through the middle frame. They couldn’t hold that lead, though, allowing the Devils to tie the game in the third period. Overtime produced another unlikely hero, with young blue liner Darren Raddysh scoring his third goal since the calendar flipped to 2024.
Finally, the Lightning saw a familiar face when the Anaheim Ducks came to town on January 13. Former Bolt Alex Killorn was treated to thunderous applause from the crowd after watching a tribute video of all of his accomplishments while wearing Bolts blue, shown during a first-period commercial break.
Once that was over, the Lightning got to work. A big hit by defensive call-up Emil Lilleberg pulled the team into the fight. Captain Steven Stamkos scored two goals with the man advantage, the latter tying him with Wayne Gretzky for 17th in league history at 204. Nikita Kucherov had three assists also, giving him 800 career points, in a convincing win.
Can the Lightning keep the good vibes rolling heading into the All-Star break? While unknown, they will need to keep getting contributions from everyone and finding different ways to win if they plan to stick around in the playoff hunt.
