Following an 0-for-14 start and days of discussion around a slow start, the Tampa Bay Lightning power play broke through on Thursday. John Carlson’s second-period goal with the man advantage stood as the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Carlson ended the night with two goals, his first tallies as a Bolt.
Carlson broke Tampa Bay’s scoreless streak on the man advantage for the game-winning goal five minutes into the second period when he found open ice atop the circles and one-timed a Nikita Kucherov pass inside the left goalpost.
"They executed,” coach Jon Cooper said. “It was an authoritative power-play goal, and that's what you wanted to see, and it turned out to be the game-winner. You're going to need it. You can't go the whole year without them, but they'll get rewarded. I know they will."
Tampa Bay started strong in their latest win, firing 14 shots on goal in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. Jake Guentzel and Brandon Hagel won battles down low to feed Erik Cernak at the point, and the latter’s shot was tipped by Anthony Cirelli for a 1-0 lead 5:26 into the game.
Carlson then doubled the lead on his first goal as a Bolt. Carlson saw that Minnesota was playing lower in the zone and threaded a shot through traffic as winger Gage Goncalves screened Minnesota goalie Jesper Wallstedt.
“We talked about in the o-zone how their wingers play it, and most teams kind of play it like that, kind of hugging the dot, and there were plays around it to be had,” Carlson said. “I kind of got lucky. It was a good screen, goalie-didn't-see-it kind of goal.”
Tampa Bay carried its 2-0 lead into the first intermission before the Wild responded with a Quinn Hughes goal from distance 2:32 into the second period.
Carlson’s second goal of the night then made it 3-1 just over two minutes later on the power play. It was one of his nine shots on goal in the win.
"It was good for him because we need him to do that, we need him to shoot,” Cooper said. “That power-play goal is reminiscent of what we've seen in the past, that big bomb at the point. Hopefully that's going to be a good trigger for us to get that (power play) going."
Minnesota again reduced the deficit to one with a power-play goal of their own, this one a shot by Lightning alum Blake Coleman late in the period. The Wild continued to push for the tying score in the third period, but another new face in goalie Dennis Hildeby helped the Lightning hold on for the 3-2 win.
Hildeby’s first start with the team was strong, as he turned aside 34 of Minnesota’s 36 shots on goal to finish with a .944 save percentage and the win.
Hildeby made numerous key stops, including a denial on Minnesota forward Maxim Shabanov in tight late in the second period as well as an open game-tying look for Coleman from the bottom of the right circle with just over 12 minutes left in the game.
He kept the saves coming in the dying moments, halting all 15 shots he faced in the third period.
“It was fun just battling out there, and we did a great job keeping it tight,” Hildeby said. “The chances they had were shots off the ice, which is a pretty good recipe. Great job at the end there from everybody.”
The Lightning now bring their three-game win streak on the road for a pair of games out East, beginning with Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. matchup against the New York Islanders.
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- John Carlson, TBL (2 goals, 9 SOG)
- Dennis Hildeby, TBL (34-save win)
- Nikita Kucherov, TBL (2 assists)
