Arty suggested this title a while back. It applies tonight…
After a stint on the injured reserve list, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop returned to action in spectacular fashion on Tuesday night. His Bolts entered Madison Square Garden and walked out with a 2-1 victory and two very important points in the standings. The win moves Tampa’s record to 28-15-4, which gives them a three point cushion over the Atlantic Division’s third place team and ties them with the Boston Bruins for first overall. Simply put, Bishop led his team to a very big victory.
Unlike on Monday night, when they slept through the opening frame against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Lightning came out with fire against the Rangers. It’s hard to describe their start as anything but great. They were skating well, generating chances, and playing like a team that wanted to win. The fact that the Rangers opened the scoring at the 11:55 mark of the first period courtesy of a Brad Richards marker, his eleventh, didn’t faze them. A Richards goal was good for me in the hockey pool, but not so good for the Lightning. Still, they found a way to battle through the adversity and come out on top. Jon Cooper hockey, folks.
That inspiring first period gave way to what was a VERY quick start to the second period. Just over one minute into the middle frame, Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov scored nine (!) seconds apart to turn the 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
Hedman’s goal, assisted by Marty St. Louis and Teddy Purcell, was a power-play marker. After passing the puck back and forth with St. Louis, he wired a great slapshot past Henrik Lundqvist to knot things up at one. For a short time it looked as though Hedman might not be able to have much of an impact on the game, as he left the ice in the first period after being crunched on the boards by Brian Boyle. Thankfully he was able to come back to start the second and do some damage to the Rangers where it really matters - on the scoreboard.
For those of you who aren’t keeping track at home, it’s worth noting that the goal was Hedman’s 10th of the season. There is only one defenseman in the league with more goals than 77, and that’s Shea Weber. That’s pretty incredible stuff from a guy who has missed time with injury. Hedman continues to make Team Sweden look silly for leaving him off their Olympic roster, while Marty St. Louis arguably does this same thing to Team Canada.
Tampa’s big break (literally) came, as mentioned, only nine seconds later. Sprung on a breakaway thanks to an unbelievably good Radko Gudas pass, Nikita Kucherov finessed his seventh of the year past the Rangers’ goaltender to give the Lightning they lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Kucherov, you’ll remember, was drafted in the second round of the 2011 draft. Today, he’s generating nearly a breakaway per game in the National Hockey League. It was great to see him get on the board.
Ben Bishop played solid hockey as the clock wound down to zero, and the Lightning managed to halt the Rangers’ win streak in style. Tampa will now head back to the friendly confines of the Tampa Bay Times Forum, where they’ll take on the New York Islanders on Thursday. This crazy week, which features five games in seven nights, is just getting started.
As always, thanks for reading.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»