DENVER — This one was a little too close for comfort for the Lightning.
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3 Weeks Ago
3 Weeks Ago
One day after blowing a two-goal lead, Tampa Bay did it again against the league’s worst team, Colorado. And it happened in wild fashion, a Matt Duchene shot pingponging off both Victor Hedman and Jake Dotchin with 41 seconds left in regulation.
But the Lightning found a way, winning 3-2 in overtime Sunday night on a dazzling goal by Jonathan Drouin. That salvaged a back-to-back trip out of the bye week, Tampa Bay taking three of a possible four points.
The Lightning has points in six straight games, a season high, helping it keep pace in its playoff chase. All four wins in that span have come with goalie Ben Bishop in net. Bishop was good again Sunday with 27 saves, including a big one in overtime before Drouin’s heroics.
Drouin made a steal deep in the Colorado zone on the 3-on-3, then deked Calvin Pickard before putting a backhand in.
"He wasn’t going to be denied," Bishop said of Drouin. "He was a man on a mission."
Added center Tyler Johnson: "A pretty heroic effort."
There were several encouraging signs Sunday. Wing Nikita Kucherov, despite extending his seasonlong point drought to four games, was as engaged and aggressive as he has been in a while. He had nine shots after mustering two in his past three games. Center Vladislav Namestnikov got a fluky second-period goal, his first in 10 games, that might get him going. Hedman picked up another assist, giving him six points in his past three games. And Brayden Point continues to produce, scoring his fifth goal in his past eight games.
But while the Lightning controlled play for much of the game, it was Bishop who gave his team a chance in the first period.
The Avalanche had several grade-A scoring chances in the early going, including a Gabriel Landeskog point-blank shot a minute in. Bishop then made a key stop on Mikko Rantanen, who was in all alone. Then the Lightning goalie somehow covered an attempted bank shot by Rantanen seconds later.
But Ratanen would convert five minutes into the third to make things interesting. Ratanen pounced on a rebound off a rush, with no Lightning player picking him up after an initial Bishop stop.
Tampa Bay got a big penalty kill to go 4-for-4 for the game.
It looked as if the Lightning sat back a little bit in the third period. But Tampa Bay thought it got a huge insurance goal midway through the third when Johnson backhanded in a rebound during a scramble in front. But after a Colorado challenge, it was overturned due to goalie interference.
Joe Smith can be reached at joesmith@tampabay.com.
First Period—1, Tampa Bay, Point 8 (Killorn, Hedman), 18:18. Penalties—Filppula, TB, (hooking), 6:47; Comeau, COL, (roughing), 12:01; Dotchin, TB, (slashing), 18:38.
Second Period—2, Tampa Bay, Namestnikov 7 (Filppula, Boyle), 10:09. Penalties—Zadorov, COL, (high sticking), 3:31; Brown, TB, (slashing), 12:46.
Third Period—3, Colorado, Rantanen 13 (Comeau, Duchene), 2:46. 4, Colorado, Duchene 16 (Mackinnon, Barrie), 19:18. Penalties—Drouin, TB, (cross checking), 4:57.
Overtime—5, Tampa Bay, Drouin 17, 2:27. Penalties—None. Shots on Goal—Tampa Bay 17-13-7-3—40. Colorado 8-6-14-1—29. Power-play opportunities—Tampa Bay 0 of 2; Colorado 0 of 4. Goalies—Tampa Bay, Bishop 15-12-3 (29 shots-27 saves). Colorado, Pickard 10-18-2 (40-37). A—17,270 (18,007). T—2:48.
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