Anthony Cirelli made his season debut Saturday night for the Tampa Bay Lightning after missing the first 23 games of the year following offseason shoulder surgery.
The Lightning would go on to defeat Toronto 4-3 in overtime while Cirelli recorded 12:45 of ice time and also resumed regular penalty kill work. Cirelli slotted into the Lightning’s third line with Ross Colton and Vlad Namestnikov.
HEEEERE’S VLADDY 🎯 pic.twitter.com/ww5QI1MbGS
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 4, 2022
The Lightning have not gotten much from their third and fourth lines this season and Cirelli’s return proved on night one that the Lightning lineup is significantly more balanced with him in it.
Cirelli’s return saw Namestnikov get his first goal of the season after being pretty snake-bitten to this point in the season. Cirelli got the assist on the goal that brought the Lightning level at one in the second period.
As a whole, the Lightning’s third and fourth lines were creating chances and having significant amounts of possession. The bottom six forwards combined for 16 shots in the game across all situations.
“He’s going to be a huge add for us. There’s no question.” Said Jon Cooper after the win. Cirelli traditionally has lined up as the Lightning’s “second” line center, but when the top two lines have been going the way they have, there was no reason to break them up.
Inserting Cirelli into the third line definitely injects some needed life into the bottom six that has not been able to generate as much offensively as they would like.
To add the icing on the cake, Cirelli added the primary assist on Alex Killorn’s overtime winning goal as the Lightning improved to 5-1 on the season in overtime.
KILLORN CALLS GAME! ⚡️
Alex Killorn nets the @SUBWAYCanada OT winner for the Lightning just 33 seconds into overtime. pic.twitter.com/8gixaFaMZj
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 4, 2022