Lightning Cruise Past Flames in 4-1 Schooling

Official Stats

Scoring:

1st Period

None

2nd Period

TBL [1]- Perry (10) (Bellemare (6), Hedman (29)) 12:21

3rd Period

TBL [2]- Point (12) (Kucherov (4), McDonagh (12)) 2:52

TBL [3]- Palat (13) (Kucherov (5)) 10:10

TBL [4]- Killorn (11) (Stamkos (25), McDonagh (13)) 10:24

CGY [1]- Dube (4) (Monahan (12), Kylington (12)) 15:54

Game Notes

-Triumphant return: On February 29th, 2020, Nikita Kucherov posted 2 assists in a 4-3 Lightning win over the Flames. Between that game and tonight, he only played 7 ¹⁄₂ regular season games in 677 days. He made his return to the 2021-22 season by posting 2 assists yet again, as the Lightning rolled over the Flames 4-1.

-Onslaught: Dan Vladar was by far the game’s best player through 40 minutes, stopping 26 of 27. Kucherov exploited Flames defenders twice in the third period, and the second goal opened up another just 14 seconds later to put the game out of hand. It was another phenomenal start for the young Czech, and will hopefully get another quick shot at victory as Sutter has done in the past.

-…highlight of the night?: A truly listless offensive performance against another top tier squad really dampens any aspirations fans might have for this team beyond just making the playoffs. The seconds powerplay unit had a solid showing in the third period and the Flames hit a few posts, but overall they generated hardly any chances. The lone goal came off a deflected shot from Dillon Dube, as he snaps another sizeable point drought.

-Streaky: Oliver Kylington, in the midst of his full on breakout season, has become somewhat of an interesting scorer. After opening the season with no points in his first 4 games, he went on a 6 game point streak. After not recording a point against the Sharks, he went on another 5 game point streak, followed by 4 without a point. Another 3 with, another 4 without. With a secondary assist on the lone goal, he extends his current streak to 4, all since the return from COVID.

by Gordie Taylor