The Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night. Ahead of the game, there were some important injury updates for the Lightning, as Brandon Hagel is out day-to-day. On the bright side though, Tampa Bay did get two key players back off of the injured reserve. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Ryan McDonagh were back in the lineup for the Bolts, but after taking warmups, Nikita Kucherov was a late scratch due to illness.
Unsurprisingly, the returning Vasilevskiy got the start for the Lightning and Anton Forsberg was between the pipes at the other end of the rink.
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Tonight also marked the final time that Kings legend Anne Kopitar would make the trip to Tampa Bay.
Just after halfway through the first period, Adrian Kempe was called for the first penalty of the night after he cross-checked Pontus Holmberg. The Lightning took advantage, as Oliver Bjorkstrand broke the deadlock with his fifth goal of the season at 12:54 in the first period with a power play goal off of a feed from Anthony Cirelli.
Forsberg made a massive save to deny a second goal, as Dominic James was unable to beat the glove of the Kings’ goaltender just before the buzzer. Regardless, the Lightning carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
After the Kings went 14 straight minutes without a shot in the latter half of the first period and early in the second, Kempe tied the game with a long-range shot from the slot. It was Kempe’s 12th goal of the season.
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Just after the halfway point of the first period, Gage Goncalves gave the Kings their first power play opportunity of the night when he was called for high-sticking. The Kings had the second-worst power play so far this season entering the night , but the Lightning still needed to remain vigilant on the penalty kill. Cirelli was certainly vigilant, as he earned himself a short-handed breakaway and was taken down by a panicked Kevin Fiala who took a holding penalty to prevent the scoring chance. As a result, there was roughly a minute of four-on-four hockey before the Lightning got an abbreviated power play. The Kings would ultimately kill off Fiala’s penalty though, continuing the stalemate.
Kempe would add his second goal of the night, 13th of the season, on a breakaway following a turnover by Holmberg which gave the Kings a 2-1 lead late in the second period. On the following shift, Jake Guentzel drew a tripping call when Mikey Anderson hauled him down behind the net. Joel Armia got a dangerous shorthanded chance, but Vasilevskiy’s quick reflexes saved the Lightning from falling even further behind. As for the Lightning, there was very little of note during their man advantage before the Kings killed off the penalty. The Kings would carry their 2-1 lead into the second intermission, meaning Tampa Bay had some work to do in the final frame.
Charle-Edouard D’Astous threw a massive hit on Corey Perry early in the period, showing the veteran forward his physicality. Unfortunately, the Lightning would be the ones hit hard next, as Anthony Cirelli was on the end of a blindside hit by Kevin Fiala. After getting to his feet, Cirelli immediately skated off of the ice and walked down the tunnel to the Tampa Bay locker room. With Kucherov and Hagel already out of the lineup, head coach Jon Cooper would now be without his entire first line if Cirelli missed the remainder of the game.
The Kings gave the Lightning a ticket back into the game with just over 12 minutes remaining in regulation as Kempe went back to the box, this time he was penalized for hooking Yanni Gourde.
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Guentzel was denied by Forsberg early in the power play, and after he regained the puck, he found Brayden Point in the slot. Forsberg made another key save, again saving the Kings’ narrow lead. Eventually, the Kings would end up successfully killing off the penalty.
Cooper pulled Vasilevskiy for the extra attacker with two and a half minutes remaining in the third period, and the Lightning instantly began applying pressure offensively. Trevor Moore seemed to score an empty net goal for the Kings, but it was waved off as Corey Perry was called for holding the stick of D’Astous. Instead of Moore putting the game away, the Lightning got a crucial man advantage with 1:05 remaining. Nick Paul was doing his job, winning offensive zone faceoffs to help Tampa Bay generate chances. Bjorkstrand and Point got quality scoring chances but Forsberg was able to save both shots. Ultimately, the Lightning ran out of time and fell to the Kings, 2-1.
The Lightning will be back in action on Saturday as they’ll host the Carolina Hurricanes in an important game as the Lightning try to salvage their homestand.