LDN - Sports

Johnson's quick strikes lift Lightning past Blackhawks

[January 25, 2017] CHICAGO -- Tampa Bay Lightning center Tyler Johnson never has had a 30-second scoring binge quite like the one he enjoyed against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.

Johnson, 26, scored two goals in the same shift to lead Tampa Bay to a 5-2 comeback win.

"I don't think that has happened before -- in pro, anyways," Johnson said with a chuckle as he stood in front of his locker. "Well, maybe in the AHL, but definitely not up here."

Brian Boyle, Nikita Nesterov and Nikita Kucherov also scored. Valtteri Filppula and Alex Killorn contributed two assists apiece as Tampa Bay (22-22-5) snapped a three-game winless streak.

Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 34 saves to earn his first win since Dec. 31. Vasilevskiy entered the contest with six losses in a row.

"This is desperation mode for us, and that was a winnable hockey game," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "The big thing for me was Vasilevskiy gave us a lot of life. He made us a little taller on the bench and kept us in position to come back like we did, and that's what you need from your goalie."

The Lightning scored three goals in less than four minutes to erase a 2-1 deficit in the third period.

As Tampa Bay celebrated a late rally, Chicago lamented a rare meltdown. The game marked the first time since the 2014-15 season that the Blackhawks lost in regulation when leading after two periods. Coach Joel Quenneville's team was 78-0-5 in their previous 83 games when entering the third period with an edge.

"We did some good things around the net," Quenneville said. "We had a lot of scoring chances. We didn't have the finish."

Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith scored for the Blackhawks. Chicago (30-15-5) lost for the first time in four games and dropped to 18-6-4 on home ice.

Goaltender Corey Crawford turned aside 31 shots in the loss.

Nesterov evened the score at 2 with a slap shot with 17:13 remaining. Boyle won a faceoff and slid the puck to Nesterov, who netted his first goal since Nov. 17 -- a span of 21 games.

"That ended up being big for us," Boyle said when asked about his faceoff win. "On and off the stick from 'Nesty.' We won some draws late, which was big. As a group, we try to work on it constantly. You have nights where they're off, you've got to read and react, but tonight was good."

Johnson gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 edge on a wrist shot from the right circle with 13:46 to go.

Thirty seconds later, Johnson scored again to put Tampa Bay on top by two goals. Johnson buried a one-timer in front of the net for his third multi-goal performance of the season and his first since Dec. 28. He ranks second on the team with 15 goals.

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Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) watches a goal from Tampa Bay Lightning center Tyler Johnson (not pictured) during the third period at the United Center. Tampa Bay won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Johnson credited Killorn with setting up both goals with smooth passes to the tape of his stick.

"Any time you get rewarded, obviously, it's big," Johnson said. "For us to contribute and get a team win, that's really all that matters."

Kucherov finished the scoring with an empty-net goal with 2:05 remaining.

Chicago opened the scoring on a perfectly executed give-and-go play with 9:37 left in the first period. Toews zipped a pass to right winger Richard Panik, who quickly returned a pass to Toews as he drove to the net. Toews tapped the puck across the goal line for his ninth goal of the season and his second in as many games.

Tampa Bay evened the score 1-1 with 1:25 remaining in the first period. Filppula forwarded a pass to Boyle, who split a pair of Blackhawks defenders and beat Crawford with a forehand shot for his 12th goal.

Chicago regained a 2-1 lead on a booming slap shot by Keith 1:26 into the second period. Keith fired a rising shot over Vasilevskiy's left shoulder for his third goal.

"We can't be letting games like that slip away," Toews said. "We've got to find ways to play better."

NOTES: Lightning D Jason Garrison missed his second consecutive game because of illness. ... Chicago activated C Marcus Kruger from injured reserve before Tuesday's game, but he was not in the lineup against Tampa Bay. The 26-year-old had two goals and eight assists in 39 games before an upper-body injury sidelined him Dec. 30. ... Lightning RW J.T. Brown returned from an upper-body injury to play for the first time since Jan. 7. Brown shared a line with LW Alex Killorn and C Tyler Johnson. ... Blackhawks RW Jordin Tootoo and D Michal Rozsival were healthy scratches. ... Lightning RW Erik Condra and D Luke Witkowski were healthy scratches.

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