The Tampa Bay Lightning weathered a slow start, took advantage of some porous Ottawa Senators defending, and received timely offence on their way to a 5-3 victory last night. With the win, the Lightning move to 6-3-2 on the season, sitting comfortably in third place in the Atlantic Division. Here are last night’s thumbs:

Thumbs Up: Brian Elliott’s First Win
If we’re being honest with ourselves, the Lightning are in trouble if Brian Elliott becomes a guy who has to play a lot. If he’s playing the spot-duty veteran like he has been, though? He’s perfectly capable. And wins like this are just a bonus. Against his former team, Elliott was able to secure his first win as a member of the Lightning. The stat line doesn’t look all that impressive for him, but his role in this victory is more pronounced than that might suggest. He was an integral part of the team getting out of the first period without a scratch, which in turn put the skaters in a position to return the favor with more offence as the game progressed.

Thumbs Up: Steven Stamkos Continues to Produce
With a goal and an assist in the game, Stamkos now sits tied for fifth in league scoring with 14 points on the season. In the absence of Nikita Kucherov, the Captain has stepped up in a major way and is contributing offence at a most impressive clip. He’s already commented that he feels great physically this season – and he looks it as well. There’s no way that the Stamkos of injured yesteryear scores the goal he scored last night. He forced his way to the front of the net, followed up on a rebound, and chipped the puck into the goal. It wasn’t vintage Stamkos, but it counted just the same.

Thumbs Up: Mathieu Joseph is Defining a Role
One of the great storylines during last year’s playoff run was the emergence of Mathieu Joseph. In a lot of ways, he’s picked up right where he left off. Last night, I thought he did a wonderful job of moving his feet on every shift to push the puck in the right direction. He was credited with a team-high six hits, evidencing his work on the forecheck. While he doesn’t have the same raw talent that many former Lightning prospects-turned-pros have, his work ethic and hockey smarts seem likely to help him stick around. Take his zone entry on Steven Stamkos’ goal (referenced above) as proof.

Thumbs Up: Ondrej Palat’s Monster Night
There wasn’t a better player on the ice last night, for either team, than Ondrej Palat. He was simply phenomenal. With a goal and two assists, Palat bumped his season totals to 8 points through 11 games. It was arguably one of the best games of his career, at both ends of the ice. When he was on the ice, he was either helping put the puck into Ottawa’s net or putting it there himself. When he was on the ice, it didn’t look like the Senators had much of an answer. The eye test is reflected by the underlying numbers, which show Palat as having generated a 90% expected goal share at five-on-five (Natural Stat Trick).

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The Lightning are off until Tuesday, when they’ll take on the Carolina Hurricanes.

As always, thanks for reading.

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