Tampa Bay Lightning

Rapid Reactions: Bolts Get Big Win Against Bruins
March 24, 2017, 8:22 AM ET [10 Comments]
John Gove
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT


The Tampa Bay Lightning put an end to their three-game losing streak on Thursday night against the Bruins, defeating Boston 6-3. The Bolts picked up its first victory in four tries against the Bruins this season.

The Lightning have now won four consecutive games on the road. In addition, they have acquired at least one point in 10 of their last 11 road games, going 7-1-3 over that span.

Responding Quickly

Although the Lightning were able to lite the lamp six times last night, the team did not acquire a lead until four minutes into the final period. With the being said, the Bolts never fell more than one goal behind. Every time the Bruins took the lead, the Lightning responded quickly. Tampa tied the game back up less than a minute after Boston took the lead twice. After the Bruins went ahead 3-2, it took the Bolts a little under two minutes to erase Boston's final lead.

Tampa Bay's ability to eliminate the deficit quickly prevented the Bruins from obtaining any kind of momentum. Boston could not build off any of their leads which eventually led to the Bolts blowing the lid off of the game in the third period. The resiliency demonstrated in last night's contest pretty much summed up the second half of Tampa Bay's season to this point, down but never out.

Hats Off Kucherov

Nikita Kucherov recorded his second hat trick of the season last night, bringing his goal total up to 37 which is the third most in the league. Before I go any further, I must point out that one of his goals was an empty-netter but a hat trick is a hat trick, no matter how it's accomplished.

Kucherov currently finds himself on a three-game goal streak, scoring five over that span. In addition, he has eight multi-goal games this season and 17 on the powerplay, a league best. Kucherov continues to make his case for winning the Hart Memorial Trophy and may be the league's most deserving. However, it will be unlikely if he cannot get this Lightning team into the postseason.

Still In It

Just two days ago, I stated that Tuesday night's loss to the Arizona Coyotes would be the nail in the Lightning's coffin. For now, I am sticking to those words but Tampa Bay is still very much in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

With the Bruins experiencing another fall from grace, losing four straight, and the Islanders not pulling ahead, the Lightning find themselves only three points behind with nine games to go. Tampa plays another "should win" on Friday night in Detroit while New York takes on the Pittsburgh Penguins. If the Bolts manage to win while the Isles lose in regulation, they will jump ahead in the standings. This will put Tampa Bay in a good position when they watch the Bruins and Islanders face off on Saturday night.

So although I may be a little pessimistic right now, keep the faith Lightning fans because your team should stay in it until the very end.