Saturday, 4 a.m.
The fast start wasn't new for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The image of a team not letting off the gas was.
The Lightning combined a fast start with a strong finish Friday night, rolling to a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. The Bolts scored on three of their first five shots -- over the first eight minutes of the game to get off to a quick start.
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But just as impressive for the Bolts was the third period in which Tampa Bay shut out the Blues, who managed just eight shots for the period.
Brayden Point scored two of the Lightning's first three goals. Also scoring were Alex Killorn, Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul.
Nikita Kucherov had three assists and Steven Stamkos had two.
For the Bolts, it was a night of responses. The team responded from a disappointing loss to Boston on Monday. The team responded when a Blues' player steamrolled goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. And the team responded 18 seconds after giving up a goal that allowed St. Lous to come within 3-2. That one was by Hagel.
"You’ve got a 3-0 lead and half the game’s left," Cooper said. "It’s 3-2. We’re doing a lot of good things, but how do you keep responding?They kept responding. ?
Tampa Bay travels to Buffalo on Monday night for a 7 p.m. game.
