In Vancouver, the Canucks needed a win, in the worst way. Instead, on Wednesday, they got the Tampa Bay Lightning and a 5-2 loss.
There are a enough rumors and stories of blowing up the roster in Vancouver to replace all 40,000 pages on this site. Dropping a 5-2 decision on Wednesday will only add to that, and almost certainly confirm most of the rumors.
Steven Stamkos scored his 500th career NHL goal in the game, he also had a hat trick in the win for the Lightning.
“It’s such a humbling experience when you have a moment like that and you get to celebrate it with your teammates, who are genuinely just as excited as you are,” Stamkos said. “I’m so thankful for them.”
Tampa scored four times in the first period.
“We made a lot of mistakes right off the bat and before you knew it, they’ve got four,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. “That’s the kind of team you can’t make mistakes [against], and they were relatively crazy mistakes or easy mistakes, giving pucks away.”
Brian Elliott made 37 saves in the Lightning win.
“The game is kind of the afterthought,” coach Jon Cooper said. “We got two points out of it, but as a coaching staff am I happy we won? Yes. Not really happy the way we won. We got that four-goal lead and then we just sat back for two periods. ‘Stammer’ is the highlight of the night but you’ve got to tip your cap to Brian Elliott because he kept us in the way it was down the stretch.”
Stamkos scored twice in the first, and Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov added single markers for the 4-0 lead.
“The thing that made me probably the most proud is what he said to the team after the game, and how he thanked everybody,” Cooper said of Stamkos. “I’ve watched that kid grow into a man, a phenomenal leader, and to be honest, he’s a generational goal scorer. That’s what he is, and those guys don’t come around that often. Enjoy him while you can. I’ve been extremely fortunate to enjoy him put that puck in the net hundreds of times. Good for him, well deserved.”
The Canucks dropped to 18-23-3.
Andrei Kuzmenko and Quinn Hughes scored twice on the power play in the third period to cut the deficit to 4-2.
“I think we were angry,” Boudreau said of the difference after the first period. “And I think we’re a non-quitting team, win or lose.”
Stamkos scored into an empty net for his trick.
“The thing that’s going to stick out too is obviously the goal, but just the reception I got from the crowd,” Stamkos said. “That’s something as a player that sticks with you for a long time when you’re on the road and you get that type of reception.”
Spencer Martin got the start and surrendered four goals and made six saves before getting the hook.
Collin Delia made 14 saves in a mop up role.
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