The Lightning head into the holiday break on a high note, posting much needed back-to-back home wins.
Pontus Holmberg wasted no time setting the tone, scoring just 21 seconds into the first period to give Tampa Bay an early 1–0 lead. Darren Raddysh doubled the lead on the power play, scoring on a one-timer from the point off a feed from Nikita Kucherov to make it 2–0.
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The goal capped a milestone night for Raddysh, whose three-point performance brought him to 100 career NHL points (21 goals, 79 assists). He reached the mark in 206 games, making him the second-fastest defenseman in Lightning history to do so, trailing only Dan Boyle (172 games).
“It’s special. I’m fortunate to play in the NHL,” Raddysh said. “Coming into the NHL pretty late … it’s a special moment for me.”
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Anthony Cirelli extended the Lightning’s lead to 3–1, redirecting a shot from Raddysh. Oliver Bjorkstrand made it 4–1 with a power-play goal in the third period and now leads the Lightning in power-play goals this season.
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“I just always have to be ready to shoot,” said Bjorkstrand. “It’s up to me to put in the net. There’s a lot of opportunity on that side.”
The Lightning had dropped three straight games entering Saturday’s matchup against Carolina, but two home wins put them back into second place in the Atlantic Division.
“Think about it: Five periods ago we were down 3-0 to Carolina, five periods later we’ve got four more points than we had 48 hours ago,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “That was big for us, big for the guys, especially going into the (holiday) break. You hate going into these on a downer. Good all the way around and an early Christmas present for the coach.”
The Lightning will return from the holiday break on Dec. 27 with a trip to Sunrise to face the Florida Panthers, then briefly return home to host the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 28.