Sunday was a rare afternoon game in Vancouver beginning at 1 p.m. local time as the Canucks hosted their Next Generation Game. Vancouver hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning as both teams were looking for a win in this afternoon tilt. With both teams coming off big home wins, two important points were up for grabs as Tampa Bay and Vancouver looked to gain more ground in their respective playoff races.
Game Recap
The first period saw a somewhat uneventful frame of hockey. The clubs might have been sluggish due to the early start as the frame was scoreless in the first 15 minutes. After a commercial break with less than four minutes left in the period, Canucks captain Quinn Hughes grabbed the puck after the scrum faceoff and began to skate with it. The defenceman threw a soft backhand on goal that Andrei Vasilevskiy didn’t see, and the puck beat the Vezina-winning goaltender on the right post, giving the Canucks a 1-0 lead with 3:52 left in the third period to spark some life into the building that was starting to get somewhat quiet. Vancouver held that lead for the remainder of the period and took it into the intermission.
The second period saw Tampa come alive. Near the five-minute mark of the period, the Lightning gained control in the offensive zone and started to move the puck seamlessly. After a shot on net missed wide, Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen lost sight of the puck and Ryan McDonough sent a perfect pass to a wide-open Nikita Kucherov for an open net blast, and the league MVP made no mistake tying the game 1-1. Shortly after tying the game, Tampa was given a power play and went to work. Once again moving the puck seamlessly, Victor Hedman sent the puck to Kucherov who sent a beautiful slap pass to Brayden Point for an easy one-timer, and Tampa Bay took the lead 2-1. The rest of the period saw the Lightning control play with several offensive chances, but they couldn’t extend their lead and took the 2-1 score into the second intermission.
When entering the third period, the Lightning looked to be in control as they dominated the second period. The Canucks had an uphill battle as they tried to tie the game. But Vancouver climbed the hill early in the third period as Aatu Raty found Tyler Myers who circled down the wall and centred the puck in front of the Lightning net to Kiefer Sherwood who one-timed the puck into the back of the net to tie the game 2-2. It brought Vancouver back into the game and gave them a chance to earn two much-needed points in the standings. But a late too many men penalty by Vancouver gave the Lightning another power play, and as it neared the end, Kucherov shot the puck on net and the rebound bounced off Jake Guentzal and into the net to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead with less than four minutes left in regulation. Vancouver tried to tie the game once they allowed the final goal but could not, and Brayden Point secured a Tampa Bay win with an empty-net goal. The Lightning win 3-2.
Related: Lightning’s Victor Hedman Having One of His Best Seasons Yet
Tampa Bay’s win brings them closer to the Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division and Vancouver’s loss keeps them tied with the Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific standings. It was a well-fought game where Tampa Bay was the better team by the slightest of margins.
