The Bish is Back

Tampa, Fla. —  Ben Bishop was back tonight as the net minder for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and a warm welcome by the fans he received.

The Bolts started the evening looking for their first victory of 2017. As the Rocket would say, “Ceremony game?… almost always results in a loss.” The game started with a ceremonial puck drop by #26 Martin St. Louis, former captain of the Lightning.

Buffalo quickly opened up the scoring at 2:58 in the first, with a defensive turnover by #55 Brayden Coburn of the Lightning and the Sabres look to ruin the Bishop welcome back party.

The Lightning then answered back with a power play goal by Ondrej Palat at 5:37. Buffalo had committed two minor penalties almost back to back, and put the Bolts on a 5 on 3 man advantage. Anders Nilsson was in the crease for Buffalo.

At the end of the first period the score was tied 1-1.

The Lightning jumped ahead in the second period as Ondrej Palat easily notched his second goal of the game. Palat nailed a rebound off a wrist shot by Lightning defenseman Nesterov. It was Palat’s ninth goal of the season.

This was by far the best offensive game the Bolts have played in a while. They were doing a great job of cycling the puck around, gaining and keeping possession. It paid off at 12:38 in the second as Nikita Kucherov wristed one by a waiting Nilsson, as Hedman and Palat were on the assist. Ondrej Palat was on fire, it was his third point of the game.

The Bolts were playing like a playoff team. The second period ended with the Bolts ahead 3-1, and an exciting square off between Victor Hedman and Marcus Foligno. If I were a judge I would say Hedman got the upper hand. The both received fighting majors at 20:00 in the second.

The Lightning continued with their fiery play in the third period, they had to kill off a penalty at just 0:44. Nikita Kucherov was called for slashing. The fans were alive in the “Oil Can.” Apparently Ben Bishop was giving this team some life.

The Sabres were not going to give up easily. In a momentum turn of events, Jack Eichel of the Sabres tossed the puck across the ice in front of Bishop, which knocked his stick out of his hand, and a preying Evander Kane was right there to put it home past Bishop. The score was 3-2 Bolts. As the momentum shifted, the Sabres were quickly once again at Bishops doorstep, as he threw the net off and received a two minute minor for delay of game.

The Lightning killed off that penalty, and quickly Ondrej Palat was off to the races with what looked like his third goal, only to be stoned by Nilsson.  You could feel the tension in the building as a huge scrum brokeout in front of the Sabres bench.  There were several players involved, Paquette and Foligno received matching fighting majors and left the ice.  Gionta received a roughing penalty and put the Bolts on a power play.  The Bolts would continue their power play to the end of the game due to a high sticking penalty to Evander Kane, and a ten minute misconduct.

The Bolts score their fourth goal of the game with just eighteen seconds left, Anton Stralman got his second goal of the season.  The Bolts win 4-2.

The Tampa Bay Lightning came into tonight in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and 6th in the Atlantic Division.  They will need to continue winning play to make it to the playoffs.  They are still a 500 team, and tomorrow it’s back to back as the Lightning host the NHL’s top team the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7:30pm. The true ceremony game as Martin St. Louis’ #26 will be hung in the rafters.

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1st Period Summary
Time	Team	Scoring Detail	BUF	TB
2:58		Matt Moulson (9) Assists: Zemgus Girgensons, Taylor Fedun	1	0
5:37		Ondrej Palat (8) (Power Play) Assists: Tyler Johnson, Jonathan Drouin	1	1
Time	Team	Penalty Detail
3:54		Kyle Okposo: 2 Minutes for Slashing
5:12		Evander Kane: 2 Minutes for Hooking
11:08		Alex Killorn: 2 Minutes for Slashing
2nd Period Summary
Time	Team	Scoring Detail	BUF	TB
5:18		Ondrej Palat (9) Assists: Nikita Nesterov, Vladislav Namestnikov	1	2
12:58		Nikita Kucherov (17) Assists: Victor Hedman, Ondrej Palat	1	3
Time	Team	Penalty Detail
13:20		Ben Bishop: 2 Minutes for High-sticking (Served by Matthew Peca)
20:00		Marcus Foligno: 5 Minute Major for Fighting
20:00		Victor Hedman: 5 Minute Major for Fighting
3rd Period Summary
Time	Team	Scoring Detail	BUF	TB
10:30		Evander Kane (11) Assists: Jack Eichel, Justin Falk	2	3
19:42		Anton Stralman (2) (Power Play) Assists: Valtteri Filppula, Brian Boyle	2	4
Time	Team	Penalty Detail
0:44		Nikita Kucherov: 2 Minutes for Slashing
10:41		Ben Bishop: 2 Minutes for Delaying the game (Served by Michael Bournival)
15:27		Brian Gionta: 2 Minutes for Roughing
15:27		Cedric Paquette: 5 Minute Major for Fighting
15:27		Marcus Foligno: 5 Minute Major for Fighting
17:43		Evander Kane: 2 Minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct (Served by Nicolas Deslauriers)
17:43		Evander Kane: 2 Minutes for High-sticking (Served by Nicolas Deslauriers)
17:43		Evander Kane: 10 Minute Misconduct

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