Stamkos leads Lightning offensive outburst at Toronto

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
October 25, 2016

Rarely has Steven Stamkos been subjected to boos from any arena around the National Hockey League.

But the Lightning captain heard a smattering of jeers in his first trip to Air Canada Centre since signing an eight-year extension to remain with Tampa Bay in the offseason, ending any hope the Toronto-area native would return home.

So in the early stages of Stamkos’ first trip back home, he heard boos reign down from the crowd when he would touch the puck. Following a two-goal, four-point night in Tampa Bay’s 7-3 stomping of the Leafs, Stamkos had the last laugh.

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Stamkos scored twice in the opening period and finished with a career tying best four points. Nikita Kucherov also finished with four points, registering his first goal of the season to go with three assists. Vladislav Namestnikov had a goal and two points, combining with line mates Stamkos and Kucherov for a plus-12 rating.

Goaltender Ben Bishop enjoyed his best game of the early season, stopping 40 shots despite losing three teeth in the second period when he took a shot from Peter Holland off his mask. Victor Hedman added his 50 th career goals while Alex Killorn and Jonathan Drouin also scored as Tampa Bay improved to 5-1.

Stamkos scored 1:19 in to the game, getting behind the defense as Andrej Sustr forced a turnover to send the Lightning captain in alone on goaltender Fredrik Andersen. Killorn made it 2-0 at 7:15 while Stamkos one-timed a perfect feed from Sustr past Andersen at 17:12 for a 3-0 lead after the first period.

Tampa Bay had failed to score a first-period goal in its opening five games before erupting against Toronto.

“We wanted to come out strong,’’ Stamkos said. “So it was something we talked about before was getting out to a good start, especially on the road, it's always important. It definitely set the tone for the game and put us up.’’

The Lightning kept the pressure up in the second period, and moments after Hedman was robbed by Fredrik Andersen after a brilliant backwards pass from Stamkos, Hedman recorded his 50 th career goal, cutting down from the point to bang in a loose puck after a pass from Stamkos.

With the four goal lead, the Lightning were struck by a bizarre moment when Bishop was hit in the mask on a shot from Toronto forward Peter Holland, the impact of which knocked out the goaltender’s front teeth. But, as any true hockey player would, Bishop shook off the incident after a quick visit from head medical trainer Tom Mulligan and remained in the game.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, I just felt both my teeth pop out,’’ Bishop said. But “there was no reason to (come out of the game). It felt okay.’’

For the rest of the game, Tampa Bay was on cruise control, even after the Maple Leafs cut the Lightning lead to 5-3 in the third period with goals by James van Riemsdyk and Auston Matthews one minute, 19 seconds apart halfway through the final frame.

Power play goals by Namestnikov and Drouin – both coming after Mitch Marner was called for a four-minute high sticking penalty – put the game away, with Drouin putting an exclamation mark on the game with a laser slap shot from the right circle on a 3-on- 1 break with 4:04 left in the game.’’

Postgame notes: With 50 goals, Hedman ranks fourth on the franchise list for goals by a defenseman behind Pavel Kubina, Dan Boyle and Roman Hamrlik. … Stamkos has recorded 18 goals in 31 career games against Toronto. … The last time Tampa Bay scored seven goals in a game at Toronto came on March 23, 2004. … Killorn notched his fifth goal in six games. He scored his fifth goal of the season in 2015-16 on Dec. 18. … Kucherov set a career high with four points..

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