Lightning: 1, Avalanche: 4
On Monday night, the Lightning took on the Avalanche at Ball Area in Denver in front of 18,009 fans. The starting goaltenders were Andrei Vasilevskiy for the Lightning, and Alexandar Georgiev for the Avalanche. The pregame moneyline from ESPN Bet was COL -130.
The game started fast paced with good scoring chances for each team. In the first minute, Valeri Nichushkin had a tipped shot on goal which was saved by a quick reaction from Vasilevskiy. Minutes later, Mikey Eyssimont made a good entrance into the Colorado zone and managed a shot on goal which was saved by Georgiev. On the ensuing shift, Brandon Hagel and Braydon Point had a great entrance into the Colorado zone with speed, and Point made a great pass which Hagel batted out of mid-air on goal. The shot bounced off the mask of Georgiev and was cleared away by the Avs defense. A few minutes later, Kucherov had a clear shot on goal from the right circle at 86.1 mph that was saved by Georgiev.
On the ensuing faceoff, the Avs gained control of the puck, and got a 2 on 1 in the Lightning zone after Victor Hedman tripped had his stick held up by the Colorado bench. Ryan Johansen elected to shoot instead of pass and put it past Vasilevskiy for the 1-0 lead.
Later in the period, Miles Wood got behind the Lightning defense and had a backhand shot on goal, which was saved by Vasilevskiy. The Bolts would go on a power play and had 3 shots on goal, including a one-timer attempt by Stamkos from the left circle. After the power play, Jonathan Drouin would use his speed to get behind the Lightning defense and put a shot just wide of the net. The Lightning would get control of the puck, and Anthony Cirelli made a pass to Kucherov who used his speed to get behind the Avs defense and get a shot on goal which was saved by Georgiev.
In the opening moments of the second period Colorado got a 2 on 1 break, and Cale Makar made a cross-ice pass to Tomas Tatar, whose shot was saved by a great effort by Vasilevskiy. However, Vasy laid out fully to make that save, and wasn’t able to recover as Johansen put in the rebound from Tatar’s shot, putting the Avs up 2-0.
After the ensuing faceoff, Calvin de Haan took a tripping penalty, putting the Avs on a power play. After controlling the puck in the offensive zone, Cale Makar scored for Colorado on a wrist shot from the point with Vasilevskiy screened, giving the Avs a 3-0 lead early in the second period.
The Lightning would push back in the period and had some good chances, including a 91.2 mph shot from Nick Paul on Georgiev. Victor Hedman would take a long shot from the point, which Eyssimont would put it on a second effort after tipping the initial shot from Hedman. However, Colorado successfully challenged the play for offsides, taking the goal off the board and keeping the score 3-0. After back-to-back penalties on the Bolts, Colorado had a 5 on 3, and Nathan MacKinnon rang a shot off the post. The period would end with Anthony Cirelli taking a stretch pass from Hedman and getting behind the Colorado defense to score, cutting their lead to 3-1.
In the third period the Lightning worked hard to tie the game, and got a great save from Vasilevskiy, who shrugged off an elevated shot from Woods. Despite outshooting the Avs in period 3, the Bolts weren’t able to put another one past Georgiev, and down two goals Jon Cooper pulled Vasilevskiy for the extra attacker with 3+ minutes to go. The Avalanche were able to score an empty net goal by Nichushkin, icing the game at 4-1. In the closing minutes, Tanner Jeannot had a big hit on Jack Johnson who responded with a hit on Eyssimont, leading to players on both teams getting sent to the locker rooms. The Lightning finished with 38 shots on goal for the game.
After the game, Jon Cooper acknowledged that the team didn’t have it tonight, but emphasized the team’s need to regroup for the second game of the back-to-back. Cirelli and Hagel also stressed the need to get ready for the 24-hour turnaround in post-game interviews.
The Lightning are now 10-7-5 on the season and tied for 3rd place in the Atlantic division. The Lightning’s next game is tonight against the Arizona Coyotes.
My Three Stars from the Lightning:
⭐ Mikey Eysseimont
Eysseimont was active in this game, scoring a goal on a second effort which was unfortunately taken off the board because of an offsides challenge. He also had good entrances into the offensive zone and finished with 6 shots on goal.
⭐⭐ Anthony Cirelli
Cirelli had the Lightning’s lone goal in the game, and finished the game +1 with 3 shots on goal. He also had a great pass which set up Kucherov on a breakaway behind the Av’s defense.
⭐⭐⭐ Victor Hedman
Hedman played 24 minutes and had an assist on the Cirelli goal. He also would have assisted on the Eyssimont goal that was called back.
Notes:
The Bolts play Colorado one more time this season, at home on Feb 15, 2024.
This was the first game for Ross Colton against his former team. Colton was traded to the Avs for the 37th overall pick (Ethan Gauthier) in this year’s draft, and signed a 4 year $16 million contract with Colorado. He has 7 goals in 21 games this season.
Jonathan Drouin, the 3rd overall pick in the 2013 draft for Tampa Bay, also played for the Avs against his former team. Drouin was part of the trade that brough Mikhail Sergachev to the Bolts.
Thunder Bolt Report⚡ 