In the three-game sweep, the Tampa Bay Lightning answered several bells Sunday night including ending a long losing streak to the Boston Bruins and a fight bell answered personally by Steven Stamkos.
Stamkos answered a series of questionable hits from the Bruins’ Brad Marchand; the two wrestled more than fought but the Bolts responded with two goals from J.T. Brown and Anton Stralman within 15 seconds of each other.
Steven Stamkos ignited win over Bruins with fight – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“It was a good feeling sitting in the box and watching us score two goals,” Stamkos said. “Obviously (Marchand) had that hit on (Filppula) and had been giving it to (Tyler Johnson) a little bit, so I felt like it was the right thing to do and it was good to see the guys respond.”
That put an end to the losing skid and turned up the energy in the building.
“It definitely energized our bench because you see a guy like that who is known for scoring and his shot go out and stand out for his teammates,” Brown said. “When that happened we were fired up and wanted to make a play. Luckily I was able to split the defensemen and get one past a tough goalie.”
The Bruins are in tailspin and lead the Ottawa Senators by one point; the Sens have two games in hand now.
Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Daniel Paille scored for the Bruins.
“I don’t blame Brad for what happened. He plays hard and sticks up for his teammates,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said of Marchand. “I’m more concerned with how the goals were scored. A lot of guys weren’t showing the commitment they needed to and that’s why we fell behind.”
In Glendale, the Vancouver Canucks started Jacob Markstrom who made 24 saves. Markstrom had been playing in Utica for the Comets of the AHL.
Mike Smith stopped 41 shots in the 3-1 loss to the Canucks.
“I’ve seen him play that game many times. But it was a lot better, a lot more fun when I was on his side,” said Radim Vrbata. “It didn’t seem like he was going to give up the goal we needed. He made us sweat for a long time.”
Smith was brilliant all game and lost the match on a late power play goal.
“We’ve played all these teams in the thick of things and every point matters to them,” Smith said. “When you give a team like that a power play at the end of the game … but that was one I should have had. It should still be 1-1. But life goes on.
“Everyone is frustrated. No one likes to lose. Even on my birthday we couldn’t get one.”
The game-winner was scored by Alexander Edler late in the third.
“We knew it would be tough because (Smith) is a good goaltender and whenever he plays he can make a difference in the game,” Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins said. “We said it would be a 2-1 or 3-2 game and it meant a lot. It would hurt to lose this one, but it wasn’t that we weren’t ready. They just played hard.”
In Detroit, Justin Abdelkader scored less than a minute into extra time to give the Red Wings a 2-1 win over the St Louis Blues.
Justin Abdelkader scored winner in OT for Wings – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The Wings had lost six of eight heading into Sunday’s action.
“You get sick and tired of losing, especially when you’re not used to it,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “They’re smart people, they know what the standings are and they want to be in the playoffs. That’s what we expected from the get-go – to make the playoffs – and that’s where we’re at.”
There was plenty of controversy on the Abdelkader goal as it appeared on reply his stick was broken and he played the puck with the broken stick.
“He’s playing with a broken stick. Should he still be playing? That said, we took a penalty late and paid for it,” St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. “… We should at least be playing in the shootout now. The referees left the building, all of us left the building. We didn’t have a chance to meet Elvis.”
The Blues were on the back end of two games in two nights.
“We did a lot of good things with tired legs with back-to-back games. Maybe we took too many penalties, “St. Louis captain David Backes said.
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