Nashville Predators rebound at home, take down Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 -NHL Match Update
After losing their first game at home against the San Jose Sharks, part of a three matchup series in Nashville, the Predators rebounded by taking down the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-3, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, Thursday night, October 27, 2011.
Tampa Bay was eyeing their fourth straight win coming out successful in their last three against the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres twice, but had it snapped as Nashville was also prepared to move up in the Western Conference.
Nashville now stands at the ten number spot in its respective conference while Tampa Bay Lightning is tied for six with the Florida Panthers with 10 points and need two more to tie Buffalo for the fourth.
Mike Fisher, Nashville’s veteran centre player who is playing his second 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season game grabbed three points on Thursday by scoring two goals and picking up an assist, which has boosted his confidence significantly.
"It definitely feels good", said Fisher, who went out in the preseason after undergoing surgery on his shoulder. "I've been out for a long time, but fortunately I have been able to skate a lot and get my legs going. I've been the recipient of some great plays too and that helps a lot".
Sergei Kostitsyn and Mike Fisher added the matchups first two goals followed by a rallying Tampa Bay team as Steven Stamkos added his fifth of the season and Teddy Purcell levelled it on a power play during the periods only penalty nearly three minutes apart.
Nashville dominated the second period as Patric Hornqvist, Nick Spaling and Fisher scored three straight by halfway through, giving the Predators a more than comfortable lead.
Steven Stamkos also added his second goal of the night with less than three minutes to go in the final period of regulation, but being down by two was too much for the Lightning to attempt at a comeback.
Seeing how the Predators hunted their team down, Tampa Bay head coach, Guy Boucher, did not hesitate praising their performance.
“They’re physical, they work hard, and we knew that if we started late like we did last game it was going to hurt us”, Boucher said.
The Lightning will return to Tampa Bay to host the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, while Nashville has one more home game against the Anaheim Ducks before kicking off a five-game road trip against Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
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