TAMPA, Fla. (WWSB) – It was a big night on Saturday in Tampa for a multitude of reasons. The Lightning earned its first home victory of the season in a 4-3 win over the visiting Ducks.
It was the second frame in particular that truly stood out for the Lightning faithful. Within two minutes of game time, Tampa Bay had built up a two-goal lead. The first goal of the frame, Jake Guentzel’s second of the game, was assisted by Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. The assist was Kucherov’s 1,000th point of his legendary Lightning career.
It only took two minutes of clock in the frame for more history to occur. Anthony Cirelli put his first of two goals through the net, with Brandon Hagel and Victor Hedman credited with assists. The assist was point number 800 in the career of the legendary defenseman.
The Lightning surrendered its lead to the Ducks in rapid fire succession over a one-minute span in the third frame, but was able to come back and get the 4-3 win for the team’s first home victory of the season.
“A week ago, we were finding a way to lose that game 4-3,” Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper said postgame.
“Now a week later, we’re winning that game, and it was tough to watch us give up that two-goal lead, but after we did I kind of liked our game. Probably the best part of our game we had was after they tied it,” he added.
The Lightning now hopes to sweep a weekend homestand against the visiting Vegas Golden Knights, with a 5 p.m. game time at Benchmark International Arena.
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