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The Tampa Bay Lightning was on a five-game losing streak before they had a five-goal night to enter the win column. Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov each had two goals and an assist. Ross Colton also tallied a goal and Mikhail Sergachev had two assists as well. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves while the Lightning exceled on the power play going 3-for-6.
The Lightning sit five games behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division.
Lightning Take Advantage of First Period Penalties
Though the Flyers did score first to take a 1-0 lead, they saw more mistakes in the offensive zone than success. Philadelphia committed three penalties in the first 20 minutes to give Tampa a one-man advantage.
Philadelphia opened the scoring at 5:52 of the first period when Morgan Frost took a shot from the right face-off circle that entered in the net to the far post. The Lightning got caught in a turnover, so it was a 2-on-1 coming in from the blue line. The Lightning defensemen couldn’t fill the gaps and Tampa was down early 1-0.
Winger Joel Farabee and defenseman Travis Sanheim combined for three of the penalties in the first period that led to the Lightning taking advantage of the power play. Coach John Tortorella later benched them in the second period, and they didn’t see time on ice until the third.
Alex Killorn tied it 1-1 tipping in a pass from Nikita Kucherov during their one-man advantage.
THERE'S OUR STAR 🤩 pic.twitter.com/PtfG9KfBQG
— x – Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 8, 2023
Continuous Power Play Goals
Kucherov opened the scoring in the second period to make it 2-1 Tampa. Sergachev sent a one-timer shot that helped set up the power play sequence. Kucherov one-timed his pass at the top right circle and fired one in for their second power play goal.
TO THE MOOOOOON 🚀 pic.twitter.com/C6AChSYlCv
— x – Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 8, 2023
The Lightning were dangerous on their one-man advantage Tuesday night, and the Flyers kept giving them more opportunities to show that. Going into Tuesday, the Lightning had the second-ranked power play in the league, scoring on 25.57% of their opportunities.
Colton tipped in the third goal at 8:46 with a shot from close range off a pass from the Nashville trade Tanner Jeannot. The Lightning did a good job of keeping the puck in the offensive zone, not forcing shots to be made right away. Patience was the key to this offensive game on the ice, and Colton battled in the front of the net to shove one in.
Boss moves ONLY pic.twitter.com/SfWHDOkp6d
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 8, 2023
Killorn scored his second goal of the night when Carter Hart got caught behind the net. Hart went back to stop the puck along the boards but didn’t get his footing right. He was late returning to the front of the net, and Killorn stuffed the puck from the right circle to make it 4-1.
LADIES AND GENTS, ALEX KILLORN pic.twitter.com/Q6LhFzUvAx
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 8, 2023
Final Goals from Either Side
The Flyers were able to get one back in the third as Lemieux’s shot rang the post. He deflected Cam York’s wrist shot from the top of the left circle to make it 4-2. That would be Lemieux’s first goal with the Flyers and first of the season. The Flyers acquired him from the Kings when they traded Zack MacEwen and a fifth-round draft pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
For the third time Tuesday night, the Lightning would take advantage of another power play.
Defenseman Tony DeAngelo received a five-minute major penalty for spearing Lightning forward Corey Perry. Kucherov scored his second goal of the night when he was able to get outside on a momentum rush and backhand one in for the 5-2 final.
Kucherov ✨magic✨ pic.twitter.com/5vjGAdKFfg
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 8, 2023
The Lightning entered back into the win column from solid offensive play and a great game by Vasilevskiy in net. Tampa will host Vegas on Thursday night.
