Bolts even record with win over New York

by Gary Shelton on October 23, 2022

in general

Killornfound the back of the net./TIM WIRT

Sunday, 4 a.m.

It wasn't their best game. It wasn't even a very good one.

For the Lightning, however, it was a win, and a move back to .500. For now, that's enough.

The Bolts finally shook the New York Islanders Saturday night in a 5-3 victory, their second in 48 hours. That improved the Bolts to 3-3 on the season, not bad when you consider how the team tip-toed into the season.



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Nick Paul cut it close on his goal./TIM WIRT

Besides, after this one, the Lightning could finally have one of those biggest-goal-of-the-night debates.

Was in Brayden Point's opening goal? That gave Point three in his last two games.

Was it Brandon Hagel's? It was his first of the year?

Was it Corey Perry's, one that offset a turnover that led to an Islanders' goal earlier?

Was it Nick Paul's? That one came with 0.1 seconds to play in the second period.

How about Alex Killorn's? It was Killorn's first goal in 33 games, including all of last season's playoffs.

It took all of them to beat the Isles. The Lightning had 17 giveaways, and they allowed 36 shots. But they scored when they had the chance -- five times on 26 shots, all five-on-five -- and they won.

"We didn’t execute," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "I thought we were extremely opportunistic.  We didn’t do ourselves any favors on two of the goals against. We just handed it right to them.

"In saying that, you've got to find ways to win when you’re not at your best.  Moose (goaltender Brian Elliott) was a wall for us. You’re going to have to find some points when you don’t have your A game. We did that tonight."

The Lightning now travels to the West Coast. On Tuesday night (10 p.m.), they will visit the Los Angeles Kings.

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