A week ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning were flying high. They were a league-best 10-1-1 from Feb. 1 to the trade deadline, which saw them supplement their forward group by reuniting with Yanni Gourde and acquiring Oliver Bjorkstrand. After consecutive first-round exits, the Lightning were once again resembling the dominant team that reached the Stanley Cup Final the previous three seasons and won the first two.
But things aren’t always as they seem in the NHL. Since the deadline, the Lightning have been blanked by the Boston Bruins, swarmed by the Carolina Hurricanes, and, on Thursday night, beaten by one of the league’s coldest teams, at least in terms of results. While their play had been solid in their last few efforts, the Flyers entered Thursday on a five-game losing streak and in danger of completely bombing their seven-game homestand.
But a big performance from Bobby Brink, who was moved down from the first to the third line in this game, helped them break through as they won their second shootout against the Lightning this season, this one by a 4-3 final.
Game Recap
The Lightning found themselves with an early power play when Ryan Poehling whacked a loose puck hovering in the air out of play from his defensive zone. Their top unit generated very little, but the second group broke through as Yanni Gourde found Gage Goncalves with a backdoor slap pass for a tap-in to begin the scoring. However, the Flyers responded before an evenly played first period ended. They did courtesy of a nice passing play on the rush by Olle Lycksell, Poehling, and their new linemate Brink, who finished the play with a top-shelf shot from the right circle to hit the 30-point mark for the first time in his NHL career.
Tampa Bay’s top-six immediately restored the team’s lead in the second period, although it came from an unlikely source. Zemgus Girgensons, listed as the team’s second-line right winger, scored just his second goal 15 minutes after the break, sliding a rebound through Sam Ersson’s five-hole. The Lightning had two power-play chances to extend their lead in the first half of the period thanks to separate penalties by Brink. But the Flyers killed the second one off, and Brink thanked his teammates by scoring his second of the game to tie it when he got separation off the rush and beat Jonas Johansson on the backhand.
Johansson did make some strong saves throughout the second period, including a breakaway stop on Poehling. But he was unable to deny Poehling late in the period, as another great play by Brink left him all alone in front, where Poehling outwaited Johansson for a nifty goal that gave the Flyers their first lead in over 180 minutes of play.
“Bobby’s been playing good, period. He just hasn’t finished. He just hasn’t scored. Finds a way tonight to score. Makes a nice play on [Poehling’s] goal,” said head coach John Tortorella. I thought our team played well. I think it’s been playing well. End up scoring some goals tonight and find a way to win.
But that lead didn’t last long. Former Flyer Cam Atkinson also received a warm welcome back to his old home during the opening period after playing 143 games for Philadelphia in 2021-22 and 2023-24 (he missed the entire 2022-23 season due to injury). Atkinson was well-liked in the City of Brotherly Love, as the nice ovation from the crowd reflected. But they showered him with different emotions when he turned and beat Ersson from the right circle. After not scoring in his last 10 games at the Wells Fargo Center as a Flyer (which ironically came at Tampa’s expense), Atkinson lit the lamp in his first game as a visitor since Feb. 2020.
The score stayed even through the end of 60 minutes, with the Flyers controlling play down the stretch but unable to regain the lead despite getting a power play just over halfway through the frame. The script changed in overtime as Tampa Bay held the puck for the entire first half of the period, although the Flyers prevented them from turning that possession into prime chances. The teams combined for just three shots in 3-on-3, sending the game to a shootout. Matvei Michkov and Brayden Point traded Round 2 tallies before Owen Tippett’s goal in the top of the fifth held up as the game-winner when Ersson stopped a backhand try from Bjorkstrand.
The Lightning will look to snap their mini three-game slump against the team that started it, as they head up to Boston to conclude a three-game road trip on Saturday. Philadelphia will host the Hurricanes that same day before beginning a five-game road trip that pits them against four playoff teams, including a rematch with the Bolts on Monday at Amalie Arena.
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