The Lightning combined a (mostly) strong defensive game, timely offense, and a terrific goaltending effort from Jonas Johansson to win their fifth in a row and begin the road trip on a good note.
The Mammoth have gotten off to a hot start this year, in part because they’ve put the puck in the opposition net. They entered the game averaging 3,64 goals per game, good for a fourth-place tie in league rankings. Specifically, they are a dangerous team off the rush. Many of their best looks in this game did indeed come off the rush. But Johansson turned aside all of those rush chances but one—Lawson Crause’s breakaway goal at 5:55 of the opening period.
Overall, however, the Lightning did well to handle Utah’s attack, especially in the opening 40 minutes. They held the Mammoth to just 15 shots on goal and only 30 overall attempts in the first two periods. The Crause goal was the only one they allowed. At the other end of the ice, the Lightning didn’t create a ton of Grade-A chances themselves, but they owned an edge in possession and an edge on the scoreboard.
They tied the game at one after killing a first-period penalty. During the kill, Johansson denied a J.J. Peterka rush chance. Moments later, the penalty ended, and the Lightning countered on a dangerous rush of their own. Yanni Gourde entered the offensive zone and passed to Emil Lilleberg on the left side of the ice. As the Mammoth defenders and goaltender Karel Vejmelka angled towards Lilleberg, he passed it back across to Gourde, who finished a shot into an open side of the net at 15:17.
Early in the second period, the Lightning grabbed the lead. On a 50-50 faceoff in the Utah end, Jake Guentzel grabbed the puck and fed Victor Hedman at the left point. Hedman worked it back to Guentzel in the left corner, and Guentzel fed Anthony Cirelli at the left circle. Cirelli slapped the puck over Vejmelka’s glove at 2:47.
The Lightning maintained the one-goal lead into the third. But Utah made a push at the start of the period and evened the score. Following a turnover in the Lightning end, Ian Cole passed to Kailer Yamamoto at the left circle for a shot that beat Johansson at 2:21. That goal sparked the home side, and Utah pressed the attack for the next several minutes. At one point, the Lightning were being outshot, 6-0, in the period.
But after the first TV timeout of the third, the Lightning regrouped and leveled the ice. The game remained tied at two until Guentzel’s eventual game-winning goal at 12:06. It came after the Mammoth committed an unforced icing, one of many they’d had in the game. The earlier infractions hadn’t hurt the Mammoth, but this one did. Off another 50-50 faceoff, Guentzel took control of the puck. He skated from the left corner behind the net and curled to the bottom of the right circle. He snapped a shot between Vejmelka’s stick and the near post, reestablishing a one-goal lead.
The next few shifts were sloppy for the Lightning. They committed a couple of icing infractions themselves and had some puck management issues. But Johansson stopped Logan Cooley’s wraparound and, after the Lightning momentarily cleared the zone, he denied Peterka’s counter chance from the slot. The Lightning settled things down in the closing three minutes, holding Utah without a shot on goal, even after the Mammoth pulled Vejmelka for an extra attacker. Brandon Hagel sealed the win with an empty-netter at 19:45.
It was a quality road win against a quality opponent, one that hadn’t lost at home prior to Sunday’s game. The Lightning continue the trip against Colorado on Tuesday.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
- Jake Guentzel — Lightning. GWG and assist.
- Jonas Johansson — Lightning. 25 saves.
- Yanni Gourde — Lightning. Goal.
