ANAHEIM, California — Not every win goes in the scrapbook. The Lightning didn’t play a perfect game on Friday by any measure, or a pretty one, but they gutted out the win, to borrow Pat Maroon’s phrase.
There was one pretty moment for the Lightning in the 4-3 win over Anaheim: Nikita Kucherov’s dazzling goal midway through the third period. It started as an insurance goal and became necessary to win the game.
The winger known more for his creativity with the puck than any physicality, barreled his way through defenseman Josh Manson, who has four inches and 40 pounds on Kucherov. Cooper called the move through the middle of the ice fearless. Kucherov skated on the net, hiding his shot and then flipping a backhand over goalie John Gibson.
“He does a tremendous job of hiding his stick and really not showing the goalie which way he’s going to put it,” Kevin Shattenkirk said. “To sneak it in there top shelf is a pretty sick move.”
That eventual game-winner midway through the third came after momentum had swung on a pendulum for much of the game.
That morning, Cooper stressed the need for better starts, specifically to score the first goal. The Lightning did that much. Ondrej Palat and Anthony Cirelli got the scoring started 4:07 into the game. Cirelli got in deep on the forecheck, dug the puck out behind the net and passed up to Palat, as he crashed the net. Palat just had to redirect the puck on net.
After Palat put the Lightning on the board, the Ducks responded. Forward Rickard Rakell scored on a spin-o-rama, trying to get away from Victor Hedman in the high slot — Anaheim’s prettiest moment of the game. The teams traded goals for the rest of the first period.
Erik Cernak scored his second goal in as many games, finishing off a series of tic-tac-toe passes from Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, to put the Lightning back on top. Then, Ducks defenseman Michael Del Zotto tied it up again in the final minutes of the frame.
Cirelli gave the Lightning the lead for good with 1:02 left in the second period, mostly by being in the right place at the right time. Jan Rutta ripped a shot from the point that deflected off Cirelli and into the net.
The Ducks brought the game within a goal with 11.9 seconds left when Ducks forward Troy Terry redirected Nick Ritchie’s shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy. Anaheim took a timeout to devise a plan for those final seconds, but the Lightning ran the clock out for the win.
“It wasn’t out best game tonight but we found a way to gut one out,” Maroon said. “We ground through. Every zone we grinded — from the D-zone, neutral zone, offensive zone, we found ways to chip away at it.”
Contact Diana C. Nearhos at dnearhos@tampabay.com. Follow @dianacnearhos.
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