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Bad luck strikes twice: Lightning goal waved off, Stamkos takes knee to head

Tampa Bay Lightning v Pittsburgh Penguins

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 22: Steven Stamkos #91 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the game at Consol Energy Center on March 22, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Justin K. Aller

Here’s likely the extent of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s luck lately: they survived a brutal first period in which Anders Lindback largely bailed them out. That’s ... more or less it.

In a stunning sequence, two bad things happened to the Lightning.

First, they saw a would-be 2-1 goal negated by a highly questionable goalie interference call. Here’s video of that disallowed goal (PHT will add the league’s explanation when available):

Mere moments later, the Lightning saw star Steven Stamkos take what may or may not have been an accidental knee to the head and look awfully wobbly leaving the ice:

This is the second highly unlikely and potentially injurious spill of the season for Stamkos, just adding to the narrative of the Lightning’s bad luck.

Update: Maybe the Bolts dodged a bullet, though? Stamkos managed to return in the third period.

Oh yeah, and Ondrej Palat lost control of his stick in a tough break on this play, helping to open the door for P.K. Subban to set up Brendan Gallagher for this fantastic assist:

So, in little time, the following happened to Tampa Bay:


  • A 2-1 lead went back to 1-1.
  • They might have lost Stamkos to a head injury.
  • Montreal made a beautiful play to leave Tampa Bay down 2-1.

Can the Lightning keep overcoming these obstacles? If they don’t clear the hurdle of being down 2-1 in the third period, they’ll fall behind 3-0 in the series.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins