The Tampa Bay Lightning scored four unanswered goals after trailing by two and defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Saturday afternoon.
The Story
The Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 at Benchmark International Arena.
Linus Karlsson gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 15:32 of the first period, scoring on a slap shot from the top of the right circle. Elias Pettersson extended the advantage to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 4:35 of the second period.
Nikita Kucherov brought Tampa Bay back into the game at 6:30 of the second period when he scored on the power play after Kevin Lankinen stopped his initial shot. Kucherov collected the rebound at the right circle to cut Vancouver’s lead to 2-1.
Tampa Bay’s power-play unit included a new addition in defenceman Charle-Edouard D’Astous, and he said, “It was my first game with the guys, but we practiced yesterday a little bit. Even if it was my first time, I've been playing power play my whole life almost, so I know what to do and I've been watching.” The Lightning were also seeking improvement on the man advantage after going 0-for-3 against Seattle on Thursday, entering Saturday’s game with a 7.4% success rate.
Kucherov tied the game 2-2 at 11:23 of the second period, scoring from the left side after Brayden Point won the faceoff. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said the move to try different things on the power play was necessary, adding, “We were 32nd in the league. It was time to try some new things, we didn't get many chances, but I thought they made the best of it.” Cooper also praised Kucherov’s approach, saying, “He's really got that shooter’s mentality going on right now, and I love it. That's how pucks go in the net, especially for guys like him.”
Tampa Bay carried the momentum into the third period. Jake Guentzel put the Lightning ahead 3-2 at 2:04, with his shot from the point deflecting off Liam Ohgren’s stick and catching Lankinen out of position. Pontus Holmberg added an insurance goal at 15:57 to seal the win, scoring after Zemgus Girgensons won an offensive-zone faceoff and Holmberg skated in front of the net to make it 4-2.
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