Monday, 3 a.m.
As it turns out, the kids might be all right, after all.
The much-discussed Kid's Line of the Tampa Bay Lightning took over the city of Philadelphia Sunday night, helping the Bolts surge to a 7-1 victory over the tumbling Flyers, who are 0-6-2 in their last eight games.
Boris Kacthouk scored his first NHL goal, one night after Taylor Raddysh had done the same. Raddysh scored his second goal in as many nights, and Ross Colton had three assists.
.
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.
“We’ve been bonding so well off the ice and on it," Katchouk said. "It’s ok if we don’t score. We’re out there to create some energy, create some momentum for the other lines. I think we’ve done that really really well. It’s a bonus if we score."
True, but when a team is playing without Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, it needs scoring from its depth. Consider than 17 games into the season, neither Corey Perry, Katchouk nor Raddysh had scored.
Perry scored twice Sunday, giving him five goals in his last seven games. It is the kind of breakthrough the Bolts can only hope will happen with the kids.
"They’ve been all around it," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "It's a tough league to score in. It's a tough league to get to. Those guys have been a big part winning some games.
"It was just a matter of time. If we're going to go anywhere, we're going need depth scoring."
The Bolts got two goals from Perry, one from Ryan McDonagh, one from Pat Maroon, one from Mathieu Joseph and one each from Katcouch and Raddysh. The team has now won nine of its last 12 games.
Tampa Bay plays in Montreal on Tuesday night. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m.