Lightning Within One Point Of Playoff Spot

Yanni Gourde scored the game winning goal with less than 30-seconds to go in overtime as the Tampa Bay Lightning scored four unanswered goals coming back to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4.

Ondrej Palat and Anton Stralman added a goal apiece and Jonathan Drouin added a pair of goals for the the Lightning who trailed 4-1 near the midway mark of the second period before storming back to tie the game before the second intermission.

Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 25 saves, was pulled from the game after allowing a third goal at the 13:41 mark of the first period. He returned in the second period and allowed just one more goal over the final two periods and overtime.

Artemi Panarin, Patrick Kane, Tomas Jurco, and Richard Panik scored for the Blackhawks who pick up a point as their record improves to 48-21-7.

The Lightning (37-29-9 [83-points]) victory extends their current win streak to three in a row. It also ends their season long three game home losing streak.

The Bolts sweep the season series against the Blackhawks (defeated them 5-2 in Chicago on January 24th). In addition, they have won their last six head-to-head matchups with Chicago at Amalie Arena. The Lightning have earned at least a point from its last 11 regular season meetings against the Blackhawks, going (9-0-2) over that stretch. They haven’t lost in regulation to them since December 13, 2009 (4-0 at Chicago).

Cooper Quote To Note:

“This has happened to us in past years when we really got injured. I think there’s a group of players that have come up here and are just playing with a not to let anybody down. They’re playing with we belong here, they’re playing with we’re a part of this organization, and they’re playing with everything that says team.

Then you get the guys that have been here before. When you’re best players have to be your best players. From Kuch [Nikita Kucherov] to Point, to Palat, to Drouin…I could go down the list – Hedman, Stralman, all the guys. They’ve elevated their game.

And we have a group of guys who have come in and said ‘we’re not going to let you guys down. You guys do what you do and we won’t let you down.’

Then ultimately we’ve been getting goaltending when we need the big save – we got the big save.

Lightning Playoff Odds:

The win moves the Bolts past the New York Islanders and they are within one point of the Boston Bruins for the second wild card in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference.

They also move to within two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs (who have a game in hand) for third place in the Atlantic Division.

According the the web-site sportsclubstats.com the Lightning entered Monday night’s action with a 19.8-percent chance of making the playoffs. With the Lightning’s OT win over the Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators win over the New York Islanders the odds will increase by 11.1-percent.

Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 overtime win over the the Chicago Blackhawks (+8.2-percent)

Nashville Predators 3-1 victory over the New York Islanders (+2.4-percent)

Detroit Red Wings 4-3 overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricanes (+0.5-percent)

Entering tonight’s game against the Blackhawks, thehockeynews.com gave the Lightning a 23-percent chance at the postseason.

Upcoming Games Of Note:

The Lightning will rest up and take on the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night at Amalie Arena.

The Boston Bruins will host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night and the Dallas Stars on Thursday evening.

The New York Islanders will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Thursday night.

The Toronto Maple will host the Florida Panthers Tuesday night. Then they travel to Nashville to take on the Predators on Thursday night.

Lightning Notes:

Ondrej Palat scored his 16th goal and added an assist. He has recorded points in a season high five-straight games (2-goals/6-assists). He has registered points in nine of his last ten games (3-goals/9-assists). It marks his 11th multi-point game of the season.

Jonathan Drouin added a pair of goals giving him 20-goals and 50-points on the year.

Greg McKegg picked up an assist on Anton Stralman’s goal. It was his first point as a member of the Lightning (nine games) since being claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers on February 27th.

Victor Hedman had three assist giving him 50 on the season. The three point night gives him 65-points on the season (15-goals/50-assists) tying Roman Hamrlik (1995-1996) for the most ever in a single season by a Bolts defenseman.

It was Hedman’s 12th career three assist game (including playoffs) and his fourth such game this season. Overall, it was his 17th multi-point game this season.

Nikita Kucherov saw his four game goal scoring streak come to an end but he did add a pair of assists. He has seven goals and four assists over his last five games and 17 goals and 14 assists over his last 17 games.

The Lightning added two more power play goals in three opportunities. They lead the NHL in power play goals with 58 and power play opportunities with 258.

Jonathan Drouin

Victor Hedman