Bolts Shock Sabres, 3-0

The Tampa Bay Lightning shut out the Buffalo Sabres, 3-0.

The Bolts played one of their best overall games so far this season. They were pretty aggressive, playing fast and hard, taking advantage of the fact that this was the second game in as many nights for the Sabres. The Lightning played well on special teams, only going on the penalty kill 3 times and killing off each and scoring on their only power play (although they probably should have had more). The defense played superb, blocking several shots and causing turnovers with some good poke checks.

Pavel Kubina opened the scoring with a rocket shot from the point on the Bolts’ power play in the second period. In the third, Marty St. Louis added a beautiful one-on-one deke-and-shot goal that was set up by a nice steal by Vinny Lecavalier. Victor Hedman’s empty-net goal in the closing moments sealed the scoring.

The three goals were more than enough for the Lightning, as Mathieu Garon stopped all 21 shots he faced en route to the first shutout of the year. Garon, who has replaced a struggling incumbent starter Dwayne Roloson, has had a hot hand in the last few games. It’s still early, and the defense has played much better in the Lightning’s two game winning streak, but given the results so far I don’t expect Guy Boucher to go back to Roloson unless Garon gives him a reason to.

Side Notes:

-          As the above photo indicates, the much-anticipated tesla coils saw their first public action on Saturday. They were only used during the pre-game festivities, and not after the Lightning goals like they should in the future, but it was still cool. Check it out (Skip to about :55):

-          The Lightning wore their third alternate uniforms, which they will do every Saturday. They retained the same black pants and helmet, as well as the blue sweaters with “BOLTS” written on the front. Surprisingly, the shoulder patch remained last year’s logo as well. I’m curious as to why the uniform wasn’t adapted with the new logo set. It’s possible that the changes were not submitted by the silly uniform change deadline the NHL has (the same reason why no victory stripes were added to the re-done version of the new uniforms), but at this point it remains a mystery.