The Lightning rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory in Chicago on Friday before closing a four-game road trip with a 2-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.
Tampa Bay is now 26-19-3 this season and will look to get back in the win column when the team starts a five-game homestand on Tuesday with a rematch against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Bolts rally for comeback victory in Chicago
When the Tampa Bay Lightning needed a momentum shift on Friday, Nick Paul answered the proverbial call.
Facing a 3-1 deficit in the second period against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center, Paul scored by redirecting a Victor Hedman point shot with 7.9 seconds left in the frame to pull the visitors within a goal of Chicago, 3-2.
Tampa Bay came out firing in the third period, eventually tying the game in the final minute of regulation and gutting out the come-from-behind win less than a minute into overtime.
Paul drew a penalty with 3.3 seconds left in regulation, putting the Lightning on a 4-on-3 power play in overtime. Nikita Kucherov scored on that opportunity for the 4-3 win.
“We were a little in the mud for the first half of the game, I guess,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “But the big goal at the end of the second to cut it to one gave us a chance, and the guys kind of willed their way in the third there.”
The Lightning opened the scoring with a Mitchell Chaffee power-play goal midway through the first period. Chaffee scored on a snap shot in front of the Chicago net after Kucherov fed him the puck from the right corner.
Chicago rookie Colton Dach tied the game with 3:31 left in the first period when he won a puck battle and the puck flew into the Lightning net.
Frank Nazar made it 2-1 Chicago when he snuck to the center of the offensive zone and sent a top-shelf shot in for the score. Teammate Connor Bedard lured three Tampa Bay defenders to the corner with just over a minute left in the first period before passing to Nazar.
Defenseman Louis Crevier extended the Blackhawks’ lead to 3-1 just five minutes into period two, shortly after a Tampa Bay penalty expired.
As the final seconds ticked away in the middle frame, Paul stepped up again.
Hedman sent a backhand shot toward the net, and Paul redirected the puck past Chicago goalie Arvid Soderblom to make it 3-2 with 7.9 seconds left in the period.
“It definitely helped our demeanor, gave us a little bit of life coming back in here,” Bolts defenseman Ryan McDonagh said of Paul's goal.
The Lightning created chance after chance in the third period, outshooting the Blackhawks 17-1.
After Chicago was called for a late penalty, Tampa Bay’s power play scored the much-needed game-tying goal on a 6-on-4 opportunity with the Lightning net empty—Kucherov skated the puck to the goal line and fed Guentzel in the blue paint, who tapped the puck into the open frame to tie the score 3-3 with 42 seconds left in regulation.
“You never want to be down. But to push back in the third there, I thought that was our best period, and it needed to be,” Guentzel said. “Whenever you can come back in the third, I think it shows a lot about your team.”
Paul earned a breakaway opportunity in the closing seconds of regulation, forcing Chicago to trip the Lightning forward.
The visitors executed their overtime power play to perfection. Kucherov hit a goalpost before winning the game 58 seconds into the extra frame.
Kucherov buried his one-timer shot at the right faceoff dot following Hedman’s pass from the left circle, capping a 3-for-3 night on the power play for Tampa Bay and winning the game 4-3.
Kucherov led the Lightning with his goal and two assists, while Guentzel (goal, assist) and Hedman (two assists) each had two points.
Tampa Bay outshot the Blackhawks 40-14, and goalie Jonas Johansson earned his sixth win of the season with 11 saves.
Multiple members of the Lightning said Friday's win was about trusting the process, playing simple hockey and fighting through adversity.
“We’ve been kind of struggling here to get some wins. At times playing a good brand of hockey, maybe not getting rewarded. At times not playing well, and it was kind of a taste of both tonight,” McDonagh said.
“Obviously not an ideal start, and that’s been a theme that we’ve got to continue to work on, but you can’t question the compete and the battle and the never-give-up on this team. We found a way in the end, and that’s what’s most important here.”
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- Nikita Kucherov, TBL (Goal, two assists)
- Jake Guentzel, TBL (Goal, assist)
- Arvid Soderblom, CHI (36 saves)
Red Wings hand Lightning first shutout of season
The Detroit Red Wings handed the Lightning their first shutout loss of the 2024-25 season on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena.
Detroit’s victory marked the first time Tampa Bay was shutout in 113 games, ending the longest active streak in the NHL.
A scoreless first period saw Detroit earn numerous chances, but Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy kept the home team off the scoreboard at Little Caesars Arena.
The Red Wings scored the only goal to beat either team’s goalie near the midway point of Saturday’s game. Forward J.T. Compher let his shot fly from the left point, and rookie Marco Kasper deflected the puck off the right post and into the net for a 1-0 lead with 10:05 left in the middle period.
It was the only goal of the game before Michael Rasmussen’s empty-net goal with 28 seconds remaining.
The Lightning fought for multiple scoring opportunities throughout the game and had numerous looks in the closing minutes of regulation with their net empty on a spirited 6-on-5 push, but no pucks found twine.
Paul referenced the push by Tampa Bay at the end of the game.
“We had a couple chances at the end to tie it. I thought our game, we were playing hard, playing the right way. We weren’t trying to cheat the game, we were just trusting our system and trusting our plan, and the puck just didn’t go our way,” he said. "It was going in at the beginning of the season, and now we’ve just got to find ways to get greasy ones and find a way to put it in."
Cooper said his team had opportunities to score but added they weren’t able to capitalize, and that was the difference.
“That was our 14th game in 24 days and the lion’s share of them are on the road, so that can come into effect. The guys are gaming this out, and it’s impressive to watch,” Cooper said. “Unfortunately the outcome is not what we’re hoping for and used to, but there’s a lot of good things going on in that room. And like I said, we put ourselves in chances to win that game, and we just couldn't finish. It’s clear we’re a little snake-bit right now.”
Lightning captain Victor Hedman said the Lightning had a better overall performance on Saturday than in Friday's win, but he also said not scoring is disappointing.
“We had some unreal looks throughout the game, just unable to capitalize. Big zero on the scoresheet and no points, so it’s disappointing with the effort we put forward. But we’ve just got to trust in the process and adjust the way we’re playing. I thought we played a lot better today than we did yesterday, and we come away with nothing. That’s part of the game sometimes.”
Detroit goalie Cam Talbot finished with 28 saves on Saturday, while Vasilevskiy stopped 30 of 31 shots for the Lightning.
Hedman said the team’s four-game road trip, which ended with a 1-3 record, offered both positives and takeaways for improvement.
“At the end of the day it’s about winning hockey games, and we’re not doing that right now, especially on the road and especially in divisional games, too. We’ve got to get points in these games, but at the end of the day we’ve done a lot of good things in these games we’ve come away with nothing, but obviously we’d rather take the points.”
Cooper said his team is tired due to its busy January schedule, but he also called his roster a “competitive” group that is grinding through a long month.
They look forward to returning to Tampa to play five straight games at AMALIE Arena—and mixing in some recovery time, too.
“They gotta wake up tomorrow, and the sun's gonna come up, we’re gonna be in Tampa, Florida. We’ve got five games in a row at home and we need to get our rest and take advantage of some rest and try and get some wins at home. We’ll be alright."
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- Cam Talbot, DET (28-save shutout)
- Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (30 saves)
- Marco Kasper, DET (Goal)