Wednesday, 4 a.m.
They have been built at the trade table. It is there that the Tampa Bay Lightning have been deepened, strengthened, fortified. It is there that the Bolts have put themselves over the top, rebuilt and reloaded.
The way they are going now, however, you wonder just how much help the Lightning need.
The Bolts started the season lethargically, unable to gain a foothold. Lately, however, they have been terrific. The Bolts won their sixth straight game, beating Edmonton 4-1. Tampa Bay has scored 28 goals in the streak.
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy won his 27th game of the season. He is 6-0-1 in his last seven outings. Against the Oilers, he stopped 23 of 24 shots.
Edmonton lost its fourth straight game.
The Bolts got goals from Mikey Eyssimont (his fifth), Victor Hedman (his eighth), Brandon Hagel (his 28th) and Nick Paul (his 18th). Nikita Kucherov had two more assists and is third in the NHL in points.
Tampa Bay is 26-1-1 when leading after two periods.
The Bolts have 70 points on the season and are in third place in the Atlantic Division.