TAMPA, FL. – The Lightning’s awkward three-game, post-all-star road trip resumes Tuesday night in Newark against the Devils.
The games were rescheduled during what would have been a two-week Olympic break. With the NHL not participating in Beijing, a decision that was made a few days prior to Christmas, the current window is being used to make up games that were previously postponed due to the virus.
Following an eight-day layoff, the Lightning returned to action with back-to-back games. A 3-2 loss in Colorado on Thursday night was followed by a 4-3 win at Arizona 24 hours later.
After entering Denver’s high altitude and falling behind 2-0 and being outshot 24-11 in the opening period, after which they trailed 2-1, the Lightning got some wind in their sails over the final two periods, though they came away pointless.
Then, against the pesky Coyotes, the Bolts took a first period lead they would not relinquish. The win in Glendale lifted their mark in the second of back-to-back games this season to 5-0-1 and kept alive their season-long streak of not having lost consecutive games.
The ability to bounce back quickly in back-to-back situations, in part, underscores what the Lightning have been about the past couple of years.
“That’s kind of been in our DNA for a while,” said Steven Stamkos, after scoring a pair of third-period goals in Arizona. “You can go back to our last couple of playoff runs and we bounced back after a loss. We didn’t have the best start against Colorado, but it doesn’t linger because we had a chance to come out (and play Friday night).”
After Tuesday’s night game, the Lightning will have seven days off before hosting Edmonton next Wednesday. That will be team’s first game at Amalie Arena since February 1, and the last home game this month. They close the month with an outdoor game in Nashville against the Predators on the 26th.
March opens with three games (Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Detroit) at Amalie Arena in the first four days of the month.
“It has been a little different,” said Stamkos, in referencing a slate that has been just that. “But no matter if you play one game in 10 days or four games in six nights, it is about habits.”
The Lightning are a veteran team that has not allowed much in the way of bad habits to get in their way, especially during their two-year Cup run. To that extent, how they closed out the win at Arizona was a perfect example of a team doing what it needs to do in order to secure two points.
The effort displayed by the line of Stamkos, Anthony Cirelli, and Alex Killorn in preventing the Coyotes, who pulled goalie Karel Vejmelka and came within 4-3 with 1:38 left, from getting out of their own zone and going for the equalizer was a thing of beauty in sealing the victory.
Remember, it was the end of a sixth period in two nights following a lengthy layoff.
“It makes you breathe a little easier at the other end of the ice and that is why this team has been so successful,” said goalie Brian Elliott, who improved to 5-2-2. “They know when to buckle down and really push. I was the benefactor (Friday night).”
The Lightning, who are 15-7-2 on the road, will face the Devils for the third time this season. They split the first two games at Amalie Arena with New Jersey winning 5-3 on November 20 and the Bolts coming out on top, 3-2, on January 27.
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