Wednesday, 4 a.m.
Give the Tampa Bay Lightning credit. After three weeks away from home, its players were at least able to find their ways back to Amalie Arena Tuesday night.
Once there, they were able to locate the locker room, find their sticks and make their way to the ice.
Upon arriving, they even found a way to manage the scoreboard.
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The Lightning remained a hot hockey team Tuesday night, beating the Vegas Knights, 4-2 in a game where they didn't manage a lot of offense. They got off only 17 shots, four of them in the final period, but star power led them to a win on home ice.
The Bolts hadn't played at home for 21 days. If you've forgotten, they've won seven straight at home.
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 of 29 shots and ran his record to 14-0-2 over the last 16 games. That tied Nikolai Khabibulen's franchise record with 16 games with at least a point.
Vasilevskiy is 27-9-2 on the season.
As a team, the Lightning are 33-15-5 on the year.
"I thought we saved our best for the third period," said Lightning forward Steven Stamkos. "We attacked better, we were a little more disciplined with the puck. Vasy was huge tonight."
Stamkos scored the winning goal for the Bolts for the 61st time in his career. That trails only Martin St. Louis, who had 64, in franchise history.
In the NHL, it is well known that a team often suffers a letdown after returning home from a long road trip. This time, the Bolts also had to contend with a trip from the West Coast.
Still, the Bolts took a one-goal lead three times. Brayden Point scored his 19th to give the team a 1-0 lead. After the Knights tied it, Tyler Johnson deflected a puck into the net for a 2-1 lead. Again, Vegas tied it, but Stamkos' tip broke a 2-2 tie with 10:36 to play.
It was the 24th goal of the year for Stamkos. In his last 19 games, Stamkos has 11 goals and 16 assists.
Alex Killorn finished the scoring with an empty-netter for his 21st goal of the year.
"I know we didn't generate a ton, but we didn't give up a ton in the last two periods, either," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper.
The Bolts are home again on Tuesday night against Pittsburgh. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m.
