In Amalie Arena, the 2 best teams in hockey faced off, yet again. This time Tampa Bay and the team right behind them in the Atlantic division, Toronto.

 

The Bolts defense in front of their goalie was horrible, allowing 49 shots on goal. However, Andrei Vasilevskiy, in his first game back after missing 14 games due to an injured foot, stopped 48 of them and Tampa Bay won its 8th game in a row. The 48 saves was a career high for 88.

 

Maple Leaf Kasperi Kapanen opened the scoring a little over 5 minutes into the game, but Anthony Cirelli responded with a short handed goal less than 2 minutes later and the 1st period ended tied 1-1.

 

Nikita Kucherov scored a power play goal for the Bolts, 5 1/2 minutes into the second period to give them a 2-1 lead. Then, Lightning struck.

 

With 36 seconds left in the period, Anthony Cirelli made a beautiful pass to Alex Killorn who put a backhander past Frederik Andersen. 20 seconds later Kucherov dropped off the puck to Tyler Johnson, who was following the play, and Tyler put a one timer in the net.

 

A beautiful and frustrating game to watch.

Here's the Cirelli short handed goal, and what a beauty it was!

 

[video=youtube;WbH-yQ_QXug]

Here's the Cirelli short handed goal, and what a beauty it was!

 

[video=youtube;WbH-yQ_QXug]

 

One man wrecking crew. I heard that the Bolts killed off 6 power plays for Toronto. Is that right? If so, that's impressive.

One man wrecking crew. I heard that the Bolts killed off 6 power plays for Toronto. Is that right? If so, that's impressive.

 

They did indeed. It was an amazing effort!

Here's Kucherov's "handoff" to Tyler Johnson at the end of the second period.

 

Here's Kucherov's "handoff" to Tyler Johnson at the end of the second period.

 

 

Great post! Many casual fans or observers don't realize the skill it takes to set up a play like that. Kucherov is without a doubt one of the leagues absolute best at making the so very complex look so simple.