Friday, 4 a.m.
As a team, they are just finding their footing. No one is sure how good the current edition of the Tampa Bay Lighting is going to be.
They can have gaps in the defense. They can overpass. They can lose their way in the third period.
Then there are nights such as Thursday..
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When they hint that they could be very good.
The Bolts blasted San Jose, 8-1, in an evening skate. Tampa Bay scored five times in the first period and cruised to their 13th win of the year (nine losses).
The Bolts got two goals from Brandan Hagel in a 23- second burst in the opening period. Tampa Bay also got goals from Cam Atkinson, Conor Geekie, Jake Guentzel, Anthony Cirelli, Nick Perbix and Nick Paul.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy saw only 21 shots, but he stopped 20 of them. He gave up a goal to Alex Wennberg 14 seconds into the third period,’
“After two periods, the score definitely was not indicative of the game,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “Everything was going in for us. Either our goalie was make a nice save or it was hitting a stick or was getting directed wide. I’d guess the scoring chances were fairly close after two periods. The score wasn’t.”
The Bolts now leave for a four-game road trip. The first of those will be a 4 p.m. game on Sunday in Vancouver.