The Tampa Bay Lightning continue to bank points this month while going through a home-heavy portion of their schedule. They defeated the Calgary Flames Thursday night to finish off a three game sweep on the homestand.
In seven games so far in November at home, the Lightning have secured points in six of them. The last three have been particularly impressive as they all have come without defensemen Erik Cernak and Cal Foote.
The three game win streak ties the longest of the season for Tampa Bay and comes as the Lightning seem to be turning the corner a bit and playing more consistently.
Thursday night’s win over Calgary was probably the most complete win of the season as Tampa Bay allowed just a single goal for the first time all year.
Philippe Myers on the Lightning’s defensive efforts, and allowing just a single goal in the 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames.#GoBolts pic.twitter.com/z8EQlT83a0
— Channelside Sports Network (@chsidesports) November 18, 2022
Andrei Vasilevskiy faced 40 shots from the Flames while the Lightning recorded just 24 shots of their own. The high shot totals were a bit misleading as Calgary did not generate a ton of high danger chances and the Lightning did a very good job of defending and keeping them to the outside.
“I’ll take the chances we had over the chances they had” said Coach Jon Cooper after the win. Limiting the chances was something the Lightning did an excellent job of and when Calgary did get good looks, Vasilevskiy was very much up to the challenge.
One impressive element in the Lightning’s game recently has been how they have been able to flex their depth on defense without Foote and Cernak in the lineup.
Their depth was tested even further on Thursday when they were reduced to five defenseman after losing Nick Perbix. Haydn Fleury and Phil Myers have proven to be solid pieces on the back end to help pick up the slack.
Myers was one of the most noticeable players on the ice Thursday as he recorded eight hits, a Lightning season high. He even added three takeaways and scored his first goal with the Lightning 10 seconds after Calgary cut the Lightning’s lead to 2-1.
Myers’ first as a Bolt!! pic.twitter.com/PVPgO1yfj6
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) November 18, 2022
