Sunday, 4 a.m.
Offense slumps. Even a great scoring team, such as the Tampa Bay Lightning, can face moments of darkness, moments when the pucks won’t cooperate moments when the net remains unsoiled.
When that happens, fate is up to the defense.
Consider, if you will, the rebound game of the Lightning Saturday night.
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 snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. And despite the six-goal outburst — two of them were empty-netters — the victory was led by the defense.
The Bolts gave up just 12 shots on the night to the Bruins — none in the second period and just four in the third — in their win. The defense had 14 shots, scored two goals and had six assists in the win.
“Smart,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Desperate. We had the mentality to come out and lean on them. They were doing all the right things, managing the puck a lot better than we did against these guys a week ago.”
The Bolts outshot Boston 20-0 in the second period to take a 4-1 lead.
Anthony Cirelli scored two goals (he now has a career-high 22 on the season).
Nick Paul scored his 20th goal (a career high).
Brandon Hagel scored his 31st (a career high).
Also scoring for the Bolts were Victor Hedman and Darren Raddysh.
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy earned his 31st win, but he had to make just 10 saves to do it.
The Bolts return home on Monday night to face the Philadelphia Flyers at 7 p.m.