
Thursday, 4 a.m.
The later start didn’t hurt the Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday night. Frankly, the team was ready to go when the game began.
The Bolts scored three times in the first 5;32 of the game, putting the Colorado Avalanche on their heels from the outset. Tampa Bay went on to win, 5-2, and improve their season record to 7-3.
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Imagine how dazed the Avs’ players felt.
Sixty-one seconds into the game, Nikita Kucherov scored.
At 2:38, Jake Guentzel scired,
At 5;32, Conor Geekie scored.
From a start like that, the odds are in a team’s favor. Granted, it took 33 saves by Andrei Vasilevskiy and three killed power plays. But an early three-goal lead is like playing with house money.
Later in hte game, Guentzel added a second goal and Anthony CIrelli added an empty netter.
Guentzel, who has 231 career goals, is filling in on hte first line for the departed Steven Stamkos.
The Bolts have now won thre straight games. Their last loss came to Minnesota, which the Lightning visits on Friday night (8 p.m.).