Holy $$%# , Jonathan Drouin pulls off another magical goal to rescue Lightning

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
February 19, 2017

The Hockey Gods can be cruel.

But they can also be rewarding.

And sometimes – sometimes – the reward is so gratifying, you forget all about cursing the Gods a short time before.

For the Lightning, watching Jonathan Drouin put forth a shift full of just pure determination and will, backed up by his incredible hands and skill, to register his first career overtime goal to earn Tampa Bay a victory they had to have, was just a stroke of magic.

It’s the type of shift that sports networks devote a full package of time to explain, dissect and discuss. It was that good.

And it was well worth having to endure an overturned goal call against the Lightning and a double-deflection, game-tying goal in the final minute.

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Drouin’s goal extended Tampa Bay’s streak of games with a point to a season-long six, moving to 4-0-2 during that stretch. With 24 games remaining in the regular season – but just four before the trade deadline – the Lightning sit five points out of a playoff spot with four teams in front of them to leap over to get to that final postseason position.

To get there, the Lightning will have to put forth the type of determination that Drouin showed on the winning goal.

From the moment he stepped on the ice for his first shift in overtime, he showed a will to win, to overcome what did not go the team’s way earlier. In total it was 46 seconds, in reality it was a season’s worth of emotion and frustration encapsulated in one shift.

It started as he shadowed Blake Comeau down the ice, putting pressure on the Colorado forward, eventually stripping Comeau of the puck in the Avalanche zone before pulling the play back out to center ice to regroup. Drouin then carried the puck over the blue line with speed and circled the net before feeding Jake Dotchin at the center point. Drouin got the puck back from Dotchin and after a brief fumble, he backhanded a pass to himself around Matt Nieto. The puck appeared to be tapped forward by Ondrej Palat to Drouin, who recovered the puck and put on a couple of dangles before getting Calvin Pickard to open up and slipping a backhand shot in to the open side of the net 2:27 in to overtime.

The entire bench came flying over the boards and mobbed Drouin along the glass.

Here is that incredible final shift by Jonathan Drouin in its entirety. #TBLightning pic.twitter.com/SVDa9kd5Ko

— Jonathan Arnholz (@JArnholz) February 20, 2017

”He’s a gifted, gifted player,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “You get him that close to the net with the puck and a little bit of time and space, he can do some pretty magical things, and you saw that tonight.’’

It helped Tampa Bay shake off what could have been two devastating plays and another blown two-goal lead.

Brayden Point and Vladislav Namesntikov provided Tampa Bay with a two goal lead, that was cut to 2-1 entering the third period.

Tyler Johnson appeared to give the Lightning a 3-1 lead when he put a rebound chance in halfway through the third. But the play was challenged by Colorado and overturned for goaltender interference to keep it a one-goal game.

”Unfortunately we’re on the wrong end of another challenge that probably would have helped us out a little bit in regulation,’’ Cooper said.

As the season has gone, the overturned goal proved costly in the final minute as a shot by Matt Duchence was heading wide before it hit Victor Hedman and took a turn in the other direction. Again, the puck was heading well wide of the net before it struck Jake Dotchin and redirected in to the net with 49.1 seconds left on the clock.

”That’s tough because I thought the guys again played well enough to win the game and to give up the lead like we did,’’ Cooper said. “But everybody’s battling hard . . . We needed to win one of those where regardless of how this game’s going to turn out or how we’re going to get to 3-2, we needed it.’’

That’s where Drouin’s magic was put on full display, once again.

Somewhere, the Hockey Gods are wearing a wry smile, giving the Lightning a sweet reward out of having to deal with bitterness moments earlier.

Postgame notes:. Tampa Bay had lost five of the previous six games that went to overtime and four consecutive that were decided in the overtime session. … D Luke Witkowski was a healthy scratch. … G Ben Bishop has won four consecutive games, allowing two or fewer in each game. … RW Nikita Kucherov registered a career-high nine shots on goal. … The Lightning open a four-game homestand on Tuesday against Edmonton, which will be Connor McDavid’s first game at Amalie Arena.

My three stars:
1.Lightning LW Jonathan Drouin – Pure magic on his first career overtime winning goal

2.Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov – Career high nine shots on goal, 11 shot attempts.

3.Avalanche G Calvin Pickard – Allowed the game to get to overtime, stopping 35 shots in regulation

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