Thursday, 4 a.m.
Upon re-examination, there is some good news for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Yeah, they're still the Lightning.
The Bolts, if you recall, ended their pre-Olympic schedule;e as the NHL's hotest team. In 21 games, they had only two losses -- one of those in overtime.
Wednesday night, they were at it again.
The Bolts slapped Toronto, 4-2, despite a ragged finish at Benchmark International Arena. It was 3-0 in favor of the Lightning entering the last five minutes before Toronto managed a couple of desperation goals.
But Nikita Kucherov is still a dynamo. He scored his 30th goal and had two assists (he now has 64). He also had a goal and an assist called off.
And Andrei Vasilevskiy had a strong night until those last five minutes. He saved 32 shots to win his 28th game.
Oh, and welcome back, Brayden Point. Point scored two goal -- he has 13 on the year in his return from injury.
Gage Goncalves also scored for the Bolts.
Tampa Bay played without coach Jon Cooper, who missed the game after the death of his father.
The Lightning travel to Carolina at 7 p.m. at the Lenovo Center.