RECAP: Lightning Zap Oilers 5-2

The Oilers lookeed like they played the previous night in Washington.

The Lightning got off to a two goal lead in the first period and never looked back. They’d get two more in the second and add one in the third to make it a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy would turn aside 33 of 35 Oiler shots en route to Tampa’s eleventh win on the season.

The Lightning came out flying. Shots were 6-0 before the Oilers could get one on Andrei Vasilevskiy. Steven Stamkos made it 1-0 at the five minute mark with a blast that went high glove side.

Puck’s a hot potato for the Oilers on this one. Neither Russell or Nurse can get a handle on it. By the time you’ve taken a breath, the puck goes Stamkos to Kucherov and back to Stamkos again. Koskinen has no chnace and it’s 1-0 Tampa.

Oilers had an opportunity midway through the first period when Ty Rattie had a shot turned aside by a diving Vasilevskiy’s mask. Rattie’s shot may have gone wide, but Vasilevskiy left nothing to chance.

Brayden Point would put the LIghtning up by a 2-0 margin late in the first.

Tyler Johnson does a good job of getting the puck off to Yanni Gourde, who takes a backhand shot on goal. Koskinen isn’t able to get ahold of it, and Point taps in his ninth goal of the season. The period ends with Tampa Bay up 2-0.

The second period began much like Ryan Strome scored a goal, you guys. It actually happened and there’s video to prove it. It took until the thirteenth minute of the fifteenth game, but Ryan Strome has gotten rid of the doughnut.

Can the Oilers draw this play up? Strome needs about 20 more of these between now and the end of the season. The goal cut Tampa’s lead to 2-1, and though the Oilers had been outplayed to that point, they had a chance. For about 45 seconds, anyway.

Yanni Gourde made it 3-1 less than a minute later. Gourde gets his stick on the ice and tips a shot from Ryan McDonough. Oilers can’t hold on to the lead, and the game is about to slip away. Nikita Kucherov would score another late one to make it 4-1, and the wheels have all but fallen off.

The Oilers would get one more goal. Early in the third, Leon Draisaitl would score to pull within 4-2 of the LIghtning.

That’s a nice pass from Ty Rattie getting it to Leon Draisaitl for a slam dunk. The game was Rattie’s first game back after missing the last three weeks with a muscle injury. All three of 93, 8 and 29 pick up a point on the power play, but it’s too late for anything to materialize from it. Nikita Kucherov would score a power play goal for Tampa midway through the third, and that would put a cap on it. Lightning 5, Oilers 2.

POST GAME THOUGHTS

• You probably saw Milan Lucic go after Lightning rookie Mathieu Joseph after Joseph took a run at Kris Russell. I’ve got no problem with Lucic making himself present after someone takes liberties on one of Edmonton’s players. Too bad Lucic’s presence wasn’t a deterrent in the first place. (That’s because deterrence doesn’t work.)
• Nice to see Ryan Strome lose the doughnut. That’s a guy who could use some good luck in the very near future.
• I don’t love the term “scheduled loss”, but playing the Caps on Monday before heading into Tampa on Tuesday seems like a recipe for disaster. Oilers were outhustled from the first minute. Move along from this one.
• No Alex Chiasson in the lineup in this one after he missed morning skate. Hoping it’s not a knee injury after he collided with Washington’s Dmitri Orlov on Monday
• Oilers have lost two straight, but are right with Dallas and Colorado in an early look at the standings.
• Oilers look to close out their four game roadie at .500 with a win at Florida on Thursday night.