When he arrived in Tampa Bay on Thanksgiving Night, Yanni Gourde was happy to see and spend some time with former Tampa Bay Lightning teammates Ryan McDonough and Brayden Point. Last night, Gourde wasn’t happy to see the Lightning at all.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup winners spoiled Gourde’s return to the `city of champions’ with a 3-0 win over the Seattle Kraken (5-13-1) at Amalie Arena. The contest marked the first shutout recorded against the Kraken in their history. Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy picked up his 200th career victory and chalked up his second-consecutive whitewash having shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-0 on Tuesday.
“The last time I was on this ice I was lifting the Stanley Cup,” said Gourde, who received his championship ring in a pre-game ceremony. “So (returning) is special.”
While the Kraken saw their brief two-game winning streak come to an end, it was still a special night for the popular Gourde. During a play stoppage midway thru the first period, the Lightning ran a highlight reel of Gourde’s six years in central Florida – including drinking an undisclosed beverage out of the Stanley Cup. After the video, Gourde received a standing ovation from the 19,000 fans in attendance.
“It’s special. Weird. But I’m super excited,” said Gourde, after yesterday morning’s practice. “Just be myself. Do what I do. And hopefully that’ll be enough. I’m looking forward to seeing the fans.””
An undrafted free agent out of Saint-Narcisse, Quebec, the scrappy (5’9) forward scored 85 goals and 113 assists in 325 games in six seasons with the Lightning. Gourde would have liked more impressive numbers on the scoresheet last night. He had two hits and was -2 plus/minus in just over 17 minutes.
Tampa (12-4-3) ended a modest two-game winning streak by the Kraken with single goals in all three periods. Pierre-Edouard Bellamare scored on the Lightning’s first shot of the game and Ross Colton (who scored the game-winning goal in last year’s Cup final) added a goal on the first shot of the second period. Longtime captain Steven Stamkos capped the scoring in the third period.
Earlier in the season when the Kraken were in a scoring draught it seemed like they were making every opposing goalie look like an All-Star. Last night, they faced a legitimate All-Star in Vasilevskiy, the Vezina Trophy winner in 2019 and the playoff MVP last season. The Russian-born netminder turned aside 17 shots en route to his 28th career shutout since joining the Bolts in 2014. Admittedly win 200 wasn’t one of Vasilevskiy’s busier nights between the pipes.
“We were a half-step behind. Their puck speed got us,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol. “We were behind them in our zone and in the offensive zone we didn’t create enough possession. We didn’t spend enough time in our offensive zone tonight.”
Actually, things started well for the Kraken. Morgan Geekie, Haydn Fleury and Marcus Johansson – who tallied the game winner against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night – had the first three shots of the game. But Bellamare scored on a routine shot in front of the net on a feed from Corey Perry, a veteran who played against Tampa in the last two Stanley Cup finals for Dallas in 2020 and Montreal last spring.
The Kraken started Wednesday night’s home game against Carolina with no players on the injured list – a rarity in the rough-and-tumble NHL – but Calle Jarnkrok missed the third period of that game with an undisclosed injury. Yesterday afternoon, the Kraken got word that their captain Mark Giordano would also be unavailable for last night’s game due to a failed COVID test. Ryan Donato and Fleury, healthy scratches on Wednesday, were in the lineup last night. Fleury often alternates with Carson Soucy as the Kraken’s sixth defenseman, game-to-game.
“When you lose a guy (like Giordano) it’s not one person, but everybody has to step up,” said Fleury, who had three shots on goal in the game. “We did some good things tonight, but we lost 3-0. So, there are some things we still have to work on.”
“For a good part of the game we were playing on the defensive side of the puck,” said Hakstol. “There’s not a lot of gas left in the tank to go the other way (on offense).”
The Lightning were also missing some key players – forwards Nikita Kucherov, who Tampa signed to a big off-season contract while letting other players depart, and Braydon Point along with defenseman Erik Cernak. Former Kraken (for two games) Alex-Barre Boulet saw action on Tampa’s top line along with Ondroj Palat and Stamkos.
Philipp Grubauer, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Thanksgiving Day, could also celebrate his best game of the season. Grubauer had 34 saves on 35 shots in the Kraken’s 2-1 win over the Metropolitan Division leading Hurricanes on Wednesday night. He also had 35 out of 37 stops in the Kraken win over Washington, Sunday night, ending a six-game Seattle losing streak. That gave the netminder 69 saves on 72 shots in 120 minutes of play.
Seattle plays it’s fourth consecutive game today against one of the top teams in the NHL when they face the Florida Panthers in Miami. The Panthers are 14-3-3 on the season.
GAME NOTES
* Gourde wasn’t the only player to leave the Lightning in the off-season. Due in large part to the NHL not increasing the league’s salary cap of $70 million, the Bolts wound up losing their entire high-energy third line. Along with losing Gourde in the expansion draft, Blake Coleman signed with the Calgary Flames as a free agent, and Barclay Goodrow was traded to the New York Rangers. Another veteran forward (and Spokane native) Tyler Johnson was also dealt to the Chicago Black Hawks before the start of the season.
* “I wish I was protected,” Gourde admitted in an interview with the Tampa Bay Tribune this week. “But I’m grateful for the opportunity (in Seattle). I’m grateful for being here … and it’s great to be in an inaugural season. I think it’s easier to bond on this team. Being unprotected is something we all have in common.”
* No rundown of a Kraken-Lightning game would be complete without a recap of Alex Barre-Boulet’s eventful last two months. Just before the start of the regular season (Oct. 12) the Kraken – unsure about losing players to COVID – picked up Barre-Boulet on waivers from the Lightning. He played two games with the Kraken, both on the road and garnered one assist. The Kraken tried to send him to their Charlotte AHL affiliate but Tampa reclaimed the 24-year-old forward off the waiver wire and he returned to the Lightning on Oct. 29. Barre-Boulet never played in Seattle with the Kraken but his wife Anne-Marie, six months pregnant, was waiting for him at the Seattle airport the moment he was being sent back to Tampa. Barre-Boulet has three goals and one assist for the Lightning.
* Due to the NHL suspending play due to COVID in 2020, the Lightning actually won two Stanley Cups in one calendar year. The league was idle for five months before the playoffs began in 2020 and the Lightning won titles on Sept. 28, 2020 and July 7, 2021. The first win came in an empty arena in Edmonton but last season’s Cup clincher against Montreal took place at the Amalie Center in Tampa. The Lightning have sold out their last 246 games, a streak that would make baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays envious. The last NHL team to win three consecutive Stanley Cups – the New York Islanders, 1981-83.-
GAME SUMMARY
1ST Period
T – Pierre-Edouard Bellamare (Corey Perry, Viktor Hedman) 6:32.
2nd Period
T – Ross Colton (Jan Rutta, Boris Katchouk) :31.
3rd Period
T – Steven Stamkos (Ondrej Palat) 11:12.
Goals/Saves – Seattle: Philipp Grubauer 3-23. Tampa Bay – Andrei Vasilevskiy 0-17.
Penalties – Seattle: 2-4. Tampa Bay: 2-4.
Referees – T.J. Luxmore, Mitch Dunning. Linesmen – Brad Kovachik, Scott Cherrey.
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