- John Carlson scored his first two goals with the Lightning in a 3-2 win over the Wild
- His second was Tampa Bay’s first power-play goal of the season after an 0-for-13 start
- Read below for more on Carlson’s night and Dennis Hildeby’s Tampa Bay debut
John Carlson got his first goals as a Lightning player, and he got two of them.
The veteran defenseman scored his first two goals in Tampa Bay colors Thursday night, including the team’s first power-play goal of the season, in a 3-2 win over the Wild at Benchmark International Arena. It was the Lightning’s third straight win on their homestand.
Carlson signed a two-year, $17 million deal with Tampa Bay on July 1. He led all players with nine shots on goal, and Lightning coach Jon Cooper was glad to see the production.
“Good for him,” Cooper said. “Because we need him to do that.”
The first goal came 36 seconds after Anthony Cirelli opened the scoring at 5:26 of the first period. Carlson wristed a shot from the point past Jesper Wallstedt with Gage Goncalves screening the goalie.
Carlson talked about the goal and gave credit to the traffic in front. “I kind of got lucky, it was a good screen,” he said. “It was a goalie-didn’t-see-it kind of goal.”
The second came at 4:55 of the second period with Tampa Bay up 2-1 after a Quinn Hughes goal. Nikita Kucherov looked off the defense and slid a pass to Carlson, who buried a one-timer from the high slot. The Lightning had gone 0-for-13 on the power play over their first three games.
Carlson explained how the play developed. “It was a good play by ‘Kuch’ of looking people off,” he said. “We always talk about flipping coverages and find holes and sneak into spots. It was just a nice play, and I got wide open in the middle.”
Dennis Hildeby also made his Tampa Bay debut in net. He stopped 34 shots after arriving from the Maple Leafs on July 1, and held on as the Wild pressed late. Blake Coleman made it 3-2 on the power play at 14:01 of the second, and Minnesota never got the equalizer.
Kucherov finished with two assists and moved into a tie with Bernie Federko for 66th on the NHL’s all-time points list at 1,130. Hughes had a goal and an assist for Minnesota, which fell to 2-1-1.
Carlson had called facing his old team “weird” before the Lightning met the Capitals. Now he has some goals of his own to talk about.
