Wednesday, 4 a.m.
Anyone for another streak?
One night after having an eight-game winning streak snapped, the Bolts looked sharp enough to start another Tuesday night. They started fast and glided to a 6-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Amalie Arena.
The night before, the Bolts’ offense took the game off. Tuesday night, however, they surpassed that with two goals in the first 97 seconds of the game.
Content beyond this point is for members only.
Already a member? To view the rest of this column, sign in using the handy "Sign In" button located in the upper right corner of the GarySheltonSports.com blog (it's at the far right of the navigation bar under Gary's photo). Not a member? It's easy to subscribe so you can view the rest of this column and all other premium content on GarySheltonSports.com.
The Bolts were highlighted by their stars. Victor Hedman had two goals. So did Jake Guentzel. Mitchell Chaffee and Nikita Kucherov scored the two quick goals.
The Bolts’ top line of Kucherov, Guentzel and Brayden Point combined for 16 shots, three goals and eight assists.
“The result was tough (in the loss to the Panthers),” Bolts’ coach Jon Cooper said. “But I was really disappointed we came away with no points. I thought we deserved a little bit better. Sometimes that happens when you reel off eight in a row. Things aren’t going to go your way, and they didn’t last night.”
Backup goaltender Jonas Johansson started for the first time in five weeks due to injury. He stopped 31 of 33 shots.
“In the end, he was making all the saves he should,” Cooper said. “When we felt stressed, he was there for us.”
The Bolts have played six straight games and held opponents to two goals or less.
The Lightning is home on Thursday night to face Buffalo at 7 p.m.