Not ‘Quick’ Enough for Lightning, Kings Lose 4-1 in Tampa

Not so ‘quick’ at the start of the game, Jonathan Quick let the first goal through at :19 seconds into the first, as Ryan Malone snapped one past the goalie. He was assisted by Sami Salo, and Marty St. Louis who gained his 900th point as a Bolt in the assist. The Kings had been hoping to make Radko Gudas’s penalty work in their favour, but were unable to score on Bishop. It wasn’t long before St. Louis came rushing to the net, putting fans on the edge of their seats, hoping the captain would raise the score, but he shot high over the net. Then at 13:24, Teddy Purcell wristed one over the glove hand of Jonathan Quick, to score his fourth of the season on his former team. Purcell started his career with the Kings, but was traded to the Bolts in exchange for Jeff Halpern at the 2010 trade deadline.

The Kings came back fast in the second with a goal from Jeff Carter, but it was ultimately waved off by the refs as incidental contact to keep the score 2-0 in the Bolts favour. Shorthanded, the Lightning were able to keep the puck out of their net on Sami Salo’s four-minute high-sticking double minor. Outshooting the home team halfway through the second, 9-2, the Kings were unable to turn the period around as St. Louis rifled his third of the season, a cross-ice pass from Stamkos, past Quick. Andrej Sustr, who got second assist on the goal, scored his first NHL point. It was at this time that Coach Sutter swapped Quick for former Leafs goalie, Ben Scrivens. The Kings nearly had a chance just after the swap, but Ben Bishop covered the puck, lying flat on his back to the stop the Kings at 18:45 in the second. At the end of the period the Lightning led by 3-0.

Throughout early penalties by both teams to start the third, the Bolts were able to keep their lead. At 10:27 Slava Voynov was finally able to put the Kings on the board. It was all for naught as Marty St. Louis scored his second the night with the help of Malone and Stamkos to make the score 4-1. With 2:15 left to play in the game Ondrej Palat got his second of the season, putting the puck over Scrivens thanks to Teddy Purcell.

The Lightning are now 2-1 at home and 4-2 on the season. Bishop had 30 saves on 31 shots in the game. It was no surprise that the goalie, who is 4-0 on the season was awarded third star of the game behind St. Louis and his two goals, and Victor Hedman who had two hits and one point on the night.