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Monday, 4 a.m.
Do the Tampa Bay Lightning have to take a two-week break?
For the Bolts, things are suddenly going swimmingly. They’ve won four straight games, all against division opponents, and have taken over the third spot in the playoff standings. They’ve averaged five goals a game in the stretch. Goaltender Andre Vasilevskiy has won four of his last five games.
And now you’ve got to leave the ice for a fortnight?
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The Bolts continued their hot streak Sunday, holding off Montreal 5-3. They scored on their first two shots and held off the Canadiens the rest of the way. The Bolts had a 4-1 lead, but Montreal came back within a goal under Anthony Cirelli scored an empty-netter with 15 seconds to go. It was his 20th goal of the season.
“That’s why you play 82,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “You never apologize for winning. We played four games in six nights. IT’s a grind. This league is tough. We were 3-9 in the division going into these games.”
Cooper had particular praise for goaltender Andrei Vasilevski, who played both ends of a back-to-back for the first time in three years. Vasilevskiy stopped 32 of 35 shots. For the last two games, both on the road, he stopped 72 of 78 shots,
The big save, Cooper said, was stopping a penalty shot by Josh Anderson,
Also scoring for the Bolts were Nick Paul, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point and Zemus Girgensons. The Bolts played without Nikita Kuchereov, who was out injured.
For Girgensons, It was his first goal in 60 games as a member of the Lightning.
The Bolts are next on the ice against Seattle on Feb. 23 at 6 p.m.