You can’t take your eyes off the ice when the Tampa Bay Lightning are playing, no matter what the scoreboard reads.
The team proved it once again on Saturday.
Tampa Bay erased a multi-goal deficit for a fourth straight game to keep pace in the Atlantic Division standings, their recent effort culminating in four unanswered tallies and a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Benchmark International Arena.
Despite allowing a goal 18 seconds into the game and trailing 2-0 after one period, the home team found a spark over the final 40 minutes of hockey to make room for their latest comeback win and improve to 45-21-6 on the season.
"If you really dig deep down and look at our schedule and what we've had to do, I get it. I have the luxury of getting to watch these guys play right up close, but in the end I just stand there. They're the guys that have to do all the heavy lifting. So it's tough,” coach Jon Cooper said of the early deficits. "You try as a coach to put yourself in the position they're in. Can it be frustrating because you're living each game in the moment? Yeah, but they're finding a way. And you know what? In the end, good teams find a way."
Ottawa jumped out to the better start on Saturday, scoring 18 seconds after the opening puck drop on Dylan Cozens’ spinning shot from the right circle. The goal was the fastest allowed by the Lightning this season.
The Senators held a 2-0 advantage before the fifth minute of hockey, this goal coming on a rebound chance for defenseman Jordan Spence 4:25 into the game moments after a sprawling save by goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Brandon Hagel got the Lightning comeback started, burying a loose puck 3:37 into the second period near the net after a wraparound pass by defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous. D’Astous then tied the game shortly after.
D’Astous accepted a pass from Yanni Gourde at the top of the offensive zone before ripping his fifth goal of the season into the left half of the net from the top of the circles 5:14 into the middle frame for a 2-2 tie.
The Lightning created their latest late-game drama film in the third period on defenseman Emil Lilleberg’s third goal of the season, this one on a backhand chance in tight for the game-winner.
“When we're all five connected, it's going and the D are skating, forwards are skating, it's fun to watch,” Hagel said. “Obviously the D getting up in the rush and Chucky shooting to score, Lily, what a backhand. Learning from Kuch, but on the backhand, I guess. Credit to those guys that have been battling all year. They've had ups and downs with injuries and having to play different roles and stuff like that, so good for them to get rewarded."
Lilleberg jumped into the rush and accepted a pass from Hagel at the hashmarks, quickly moved the puck to his backhand and slipped the shot under the arm of Senators goalie James Reimer to give Tampa Bay the 3-2 lead, their first of the game, with 11:09 left in the game.
“We talk about the D have to join the rush and that’s open for the D too with joining up,” Lilleberg said of his goal postgame. "Haggy made a good pass there, and I’m glad it went in.”
Jake Guentzel put the finishing touches on the game, accepting a long pass from Corey Perry before burying a shot on a breakaway to make it 4-2 with 2:12 remaining.
Lilleberg led all players with a career-high three-point night, while D’Astous and Hagel each finished with two points. Vasilevskiy ended the night with 26 saves and the victory on a night the team played without forwards Nikita Kucherov and Nick Paul due to illnesses.
"It's the old line of, ‘Guys are out. Somebody's got to step up.’ And Lilly and Chucky were plus-four tonight…Good for them,” Cooper said..."I thought those two guys were outstanding for us tonight, especially those last two periods.”
Tampa Bay has now earned standings points in seven straight contests and closes the weekend back-to-back on Sunday with a 5 p.m. visit from the Nashville Predators. While they’re happy to keep earning standings points, they want a better start in that game.
“We can't sustain this forever. I think it's four games where we've been down two early. We’ve got to play a full 60. At the end of the day, obviously the compete and to come back, we have it. We've been doing it all year, but we haven't been doing it four games in a row,” Hagel said. "So I love the comeback, love the compete, but at the same time, it's got to start full 60. We need to put a full 60 together. Coming back in the playoffs isn’t very easy, so we're trying to prepare for that.”
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
1. Emil Lilleberg, TBL (Game-winning goal, 2 assists)
2. Charle-Edouard D’Astous, TBL (Goal, assist)
3. Brandon Hagel, TBL (Goal, assist)
