One game after losing to one of the worst teams in the National Hockey League, the Tampa Bay Lightning beat one of the best.
The Lightning, still struggling in its effort to make the playoffs, came from behind to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 Tuesday night. Coming one game after losing to Arizona, it was a needed win.
“This is desperation mode for us,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “This was a winnable hockey game. A lot of good things came out of tonight.”
One of those good things was the play of Tyler Johnson, who gave the Bolts the lead when he scored two goals in 30 seconds in the third period. Brian Boyle, Nikita Nesterov and Nikita Kucherov all scored for the Bolts as well.
“Johnny (Johnson) been playing hard,” Cooper said. “We had a passion to go and win this game. It was led by Tyler Johnson. It was big.”
Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy won for the first time in seven games. He stopped 34 shots in an excellent outing.
“Vasy gave us a lot of life,” Cooper said.
The Bolts play at Florida on Thursday night to complete a six-game road trip. They are home next Tuesday night against Boston.
