Friday, 4 a.m.
A team scores a goal, and a parade breaks out. There are horns and cheers and a grand celebration.
A team keeps another from scoring, and the only sound is fans exhaling.
It’s a cliche in hockey. It isn’t how many pucks you put into the net, it’s how many you keep out.
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That isn’t much of a surprise to the hot Tampa Bay Lightning, riding their best streak of the year. The Bolts’ 3-1 win over St. Louis Thursday night ran their record to 6-1 over their last seven games.
And, yeah, the Bolts are scoring. But they’re defending, too. They’ve allowed just 13 goals in those seven games (and scored 34).
Against the Blues, Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 of 32 shots.
“We kind of defended our way to a win tonight,” Bolts’ coach Jon Cooper said. “There have been a lot of ones and twos (goals allowed) lately. At the first of the season, it was threes and fours.”
The Bolts had goals from Anthony Cirelli, Nick Perbix and Gage Goncalves. It was Concalves’ first goal in the NHL.
“He’s figuring out the league,” Cooper said. “He has the skill set to play in this league. It’s a matter of gaining experience. I think he’s progressively getting better. I’m surprised it took him this long. He’s definitely had some chances. They haven’t gone in for him.”
Jake Guentzel had his seven-game goal streak stopped.
The Lightning are home against the Florida Panthers Sunday at 5 p.m. The teams follow that game with a rematch Monday night in Sunrise at 7 p.m.