The Lightning Melt the Thrashers 7-1 Tampa, Fl.—The Tampa Bay Lightning (30-15-5) blitzed the Atlanta Thrashers (23-19-9) out of The St Pete Times Forum 7-1 in front of a crowd of 13,916 on Sunday evening. The Bolts scored 4 goals in a 10:05 span to start the second period - and five goals total in the period - as they dominated the Thrashers yet again at both ends of the rink. More importantly, the win extended Tampa Bay’s lead over Atlanta to 10 points in the Southeast division. There are few teams in the NHL that have the ability to bury another team as the Bolts did in a 10-minute stretch against the Thrashers tonight. Once the forecheck started to be effective, it was like a snowball which Atlanta had no chance of melting. It was an entire team effort as the Lightning received goals from all four lines in completing a sweep of the season series with Atlanta. Nate Thompson scored the Lightning’s first shorthanded goal of the season 14 seconds into the second period. After battling at the point and taking the puck down the right wing, Thompson’s wrister to the stick side passed Atlanta’s goaltender Ondrej Pavelec for his 7 goal of the season. Dana Tyrell then ripped another shot past Pavelec to score his 5 to extend the Bolts lead to 2-0 at 1:56 in the second period. Dominic Moore and Pavel Kubina assisted on the goal from Tyrell, who continues to battle night after night, setting the tone for the team with his energy level. Steven Stamkos understands that to lead the league in goal scoring you have to do it many different ways. Tonight, Stamkos took a shot from Marty St Louis off his leg and into the net to extend his goals lead in the NHL with his 38 goal, which also stretched the lead in the game to 3-0. Tampa Bay continued the onslaught as Marty St Louis scored his 20 goal, as the Lightning all-star received a nice pass from behind the net from Steve Downie which enabled him to score. That served as the fourth goal in the aforementioned 10:05 stretch of the period which included a 12-1 shot advantage. At one point in the game, Tampa’s Vincent Lecavalier put his arm around Simon Gagne as they were finally able to combine for a goal in laughable fashion as Gagne’s swatted dribbler bounced into the net courtesy of Lecavalier’s feed. They were not done yet however, as they also combined for a late goal on a 5 on 3. For Gagne, he scored his 7 and 8 goals of the season, while Lecavalier and Teddy Purcell both combined on the goals. Not to be out-done on the night, Pavel Kubina netted his 3rd of the season on a shot from the point as the Lightning continued to apply the pressure deep into the third period despite the commanding lead. Goaltender Dwayne Roloson continued his solid play since being acquired by trade as he used a workman-like effort to stop 21 out of 22 shots in earning the win between the pipes. The Lightning continue their extended home stand at 7:30 pm on Tuesday evening against the Toronto Maple Leafs. |
 |
|||||||
 
CategoriesCollege BasketballDave Jarvis Fantasy Golf Football Golf Hockey Larry D Lieberman NFL Tampa Bay Lightning USF Bulls |
|
 |
|||||
    |
|||||||
