Lightning Vs. Ducks: Tampa Bay Makes It 3 In A Row, Winning 3-2

The Tampa Bay Lightning (27-26-6, 60 pts) jumped ahead quickly in the first period on Tuesday night and fended off the Anaheim Ducks (25-25-10, 60 pts) late for a 3-2 victory.

C Steven Stamkos once again led the Lightning on offense, blasting a pair of goals and notching an assist as well. RW Teddy Purcell also added a goal of his own, the key second period goal that proved to be the game's decider, as well as two assists of his own.

Meanwhile, G Mathieu Garon, who entered the game with a .903 save percentage and 4.9 goalie point shares, fended off an onslaught of 30 shots on goal, collecting 28 saves and his 19th win of the season. Quality trumped quantity on the evening, as the Lightning only musters 16 shots on goal to the Ducks 30, but came away victorious.

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Forty seconds into the second period, Saku Koivu scored on Mathieu Garon to cut Tampa Bays’s lead in half. But, the Lightning answered that minutes later when Teddy Purcell back handed the puck in the slot to put it past Jonas Hiller at 2:40.

In the last half of the second period, Tampa Bay spent too much time in its own zone and Mathieu Garon was forced to make some tough saves to preserve its two-goal lead. It was only a matter of time before the Ducks got one past Garon and they did at 18:38 when Bobby Ryan scored a goal that was assisted by Koivu.

The Lightning cannot let this game slip away from them. The team has played well collectively but need to spend more time in the offensive zone.

Purcell has a goal and two assists and Stamkos has two goals and an assist so far in this game. It’s only a matter of time before Stamkos scores again tonight. It’s one of those nights for him. He is attacking the net and playing very aggressively, maybe for his best friend Steve Downie that was traded hours before game time perhaps?

It only took the Tampa Bay Lightning 28 seconds to get on the board tonight, thanks to a hooking call on Ducks defensemen Cam Fowler 22 seconds into the game. Fowler hooked Stamkos and six seconds after the play, Ryan Malone and Teddy Purcell set up the play that helped Stamkos score his 41st goal of the season. Stamkos was aggressive getting to the net and scored on the rebound.

Then, with 2:02 left in the period, Stamkos did it again and put one in behind Jonas Hiller to score his 42nd goal of the season. Brett Clark and Teddy Purcell assisted on the goal.