Why we're watching: Lightning complete sweep in Sweden

While the NHL is on a temporary break due to the coronavirus, that doesn't mean hockey has to completely go dark.
Throughout the upcoming weeks, FOX Sports Sun will re-air wins from the Tampa Bay Lightning 2019-20 season, those games that became instant classics for Bolts fans. Remember when Steven Stamkos was the only player to convert in a shootout to send the Lightning to an early-season win in Boston? Or how Bolts rookie forward Carter Verhaeghe recorded a hat trick in a 9-2 rout of the Vancouver Canucks?
Now you can re-live those moments and many more while holed up in your house.

Next up Tuesday, March 31 at 8 p.m.: The Lightning head to Stockholm, Sweden for two games against the Buffalo Sabres as part of the NHL Global Series. In the second half of that back-to-back set, Victor Hedman notches a power-play goal in his home country and Curtis McElhinney stops 40 shots as the Bolts complete the sweep of the Sabres with a 5-3 win.
Here's why this contest is must-see TV for Lightning fans.

- HEDMAN'S HOMECOMING
The Lightning picked up two much-needed victories in Sweden, but the NHL Global Series in Stockholm will always be remembered by Bolts fans as the homecoming for perennial Norris Trophy candidate Victor Hedman.
You could see the tears welling up in Hedman's eyes as he stood on the blue line while the Swedish national anthem played over the arena speakers before puck drop.
"That was probably one of the most special things I've experienced as a hockey player, hearing the national anthem before an NHL game," Hedman said following the win. "That was super special, and I was really focusing in on that flag, trying to keep the emotions in check."
Hedman rose to the occasion in his home country too.
Early in the second period with the game tied 1-1, Hedman blasted a one-timer into the back of the net from center point off a setup by Steven Stamkos seven seconds into a power play.
Cue "Takin' Care of Business"
Hedman was questionable to play in the Global Series after suffering a lower-body injury in the final road trip before the Lightning departed for Sweden.
But there was no way Hedman was going to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He recorded a goal and an assist over the two-game series and was the Bolts' official tour guide for the week, even putting together a Sweden guide book with the help of his wife for players and the coaching staff to use.
"This has been an unbelievable experience for me and my teammates," he said. "But for me, coming home, to finish it off with two wins, it's been tremendous. Just super happy about this week."

- MOMENTUM BOOST
Tampa Bay slogged its way through the first month of the season. When the Lightning boarded a plane bound for Stockholm, they had lost more games than they'd won to that point of the season, owning a 6-5-2 record and 24th place in the overall NHL standings.
In Stockholm, the Bolts started to resemble the team we've come to expect.
The second game in Sweden capped a week in which the team came together as a group and became more cohesive as one unit.
In the 5-3 victory, the Lightning won the special teams battle, taking the lead for good behind a pair of power-play goals by Pat Maroon and Victor Hedman after the Sabres grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first period. The Bolts' penalty kill, beleaguered through the first month of the season and near the bottom of the NHL standings for efficiency entering November, went 2-for-2 to begin its bounce back. And Tampa Bay's secondary scoring was on full display as Maroon supplied two goals, Yanni Gourde added another and Mathieu Joseph tacked on a fifth goal midway through the third to cement the win.
The Bolts weren't all the way back after returning home from Sweden. They would lose two of their next three once stateside and didn't go on an extended win streak until after Christmas.
But their return to greatness jumpstarted in Stockholm.

- THAT FOURTH LINE
Remember how potent the combination of Pat Maroon, Cedric Paquette and Yanni Gourde was early in the season?
You could make the argument at one time they were the best fourth line in the NHL.
In Sweden, they were at the top of their game.
Maroon, Paquette and Gourde each recorded two points, and the trio accounted for almost half of the Bolts' 14 total points.
Maroon scored a pair of goals to lead the Lightning offensively. With the Bolts trailing 1-0 in the first period, the veteran forward got a tip on Yanni Gourde's shot from the left circle with one second left on a power play to level the score.
Then, with three seconds remaining in the second period and the Lightning up 2-1, Maroon scored a dagger goal. Kevin Shattenkirk sent a puck on net from the point that was blocked by Buffalo goalie Carter Hutton. Both Maroon and Gourde were lurking in front of the net for the rebound, and Maroon jammed home the loose puck after a few whacks.
The Paquette line struck again in the third period after Buffalo inched back to within 3-2. Paquette won a face-off in the left dot over to Gourde, who quickly one-timed a shot past Hutton to re-establish the Lightning's two-goal lead. And then we got to see Gourde's wood-chopping goal celebration again, a move he broke out a day earlier in Sweden.
That line provided offense for the Lightning for the next couple of weeks once they returned to the United States, but it stagnated in late November into early December and was broken up as the Lightning continued to introduce different line combinations throughout the season.
Wouldn't be surprised if that line re-established itself as a force though once the pause on the NHL season is lifted and the playoffs get underway.

- McELHINNEY UNDER FIRE
Lightning goalie Curtis McElhinney made his fifth start of the season (and with the Bolts) in the second half of the back-to-back Sweden set.
In four of those five games, McElhinney faced 40 or more shots, including the 5-3 win over the Sabres.
McElhinney went 2-1-2 over his first five games, proving he was more than capable to handle the heavy workload when Andrei Vasilevskiy needed a break.
In the Buffalo win, McElhinney stopped 40-of-43 shots - including 16-of-17 in a strong opening period for the Sabres -- to earn his second victory of the season. He was busy throughout, but he proved up to the challenge.
After watching Louis Domingue perform at a high level during the record-setting 2018-19 season, many Lightning fans wondered about the move to bring in McElhinney to back up Vasilevskiy. Performances like the one he put up in Buffalo, however, proved McElhinney was an upgrade at the position. His calm demeanor and strong play has been a steadying presence for the Lightning this season.