The Tampa Bay Lightning continue their quest for an Atlantic Division title when they play their first-ever game in Salt Lake City on Saturday afternoon against the Utah Hockey Club.
It’s the second game of a three-game Western road trip for Tampa Bay (40-23-5, 85 points), which is two points behind both the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs for the top spot in the Atlantic. However, the Lightning still have one game in hand.
Tampa Bay doesn’t have to leave the Eastern time zone again for a game following Sunday night’s road-trip finale in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights. The Lightning opened the trip with a 3-2 shootout victory at Dallas on Thursday.
Rookie center Gage Goncalves scored the game-winner, the first of his career, in the fourth round of the shootout for the Lightning, who extended their winning streak to three games.
“It felt like a playoff atmosphere out there,” said forward Anthony Cirelli, who had a goal and an assist. “It’s nice to go out with two points.”
Goncalves, a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, skated down the right side of the zone, faked a shot in the slot and then fired a shot into the bottom left corner of the net past goaltender Casey DeSmith.
“(Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper) tapped me on the back and he said, âGo win it, kid,'” Goncalves said. “I’m happy it went in and happy we started this road trip off right.”
“Gage is a good player,” Cooper said. “Just because he hasn’t been in the NHL that long (48 games) doesn’t mean he can’t put it in the net. He’s had success in the American (Hockey) League in the shootout. I’ve got faith in the kid, and he delivered for us.”
Utah, which has won six of its last eight home games, comes into the contest sixth in the Central Division but just four points behind the St. Louis Blues for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Utah has a game in hand and finishes the regular season with an April 15 game at St. Louis.
Dylan Guenther’s rebound goal at 14:13 of the third period broke a 2-2 tie and highlighted a three-goal final period for Utah in a 5-2 victory over visiting Buffalo on Thursday. It was Guenther’s ninth game-winning goal of the season.
“It was a huge game for us (Thursday), and we found a way to win the game,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said.
Utah won despite allowing a power-play goal to JJ Peterka and a short-handed goal to Ryan McLeod which tied the game 2-2 early in the third period.
“We found a way to score a big goal at key moments even if our special teams, which have been good for us, weren’t,” Tourigny said. “That was a huge win for us. Now we have a different animal coming here on the weekend, and we’ll have to be ready.”
It’s the first of two regular-season meetings, with the second matchup on March 27 in Tampa.
