The Anaheim Ducks knew they had the tall order to defend the hottest scorer in the NHL in Steven Stamkos on Tuesday night when they faced the Tampa Bay Lightning at Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, Fla. However, Stamkos had other plans in mind.
Stamkos scored his league-leading 41st and 42nd goals of the season and, for good measure, added an assist as the the Lightning defeated the Ducks 3-2.
The Ducks found themselves in a hole in the first period when Stamkos put the Lightning on the board up 1-0 when he nudged a puck past goalie Jonas Hiller on the power play, 28 seconds into the game.
Ducks’ Cam Fowler was penalized for hooking Stamkos. The Lightning would score again in the first period on another Stamkos goal.
Anaheim’s Saku Koivu rebounded with a goal 40 seconds into the 2nd period on an assist by Bobby Ryan and Fowler to put the Ducks on the scoreboard, however two minutes later, Lightning’s Tedd Purcell would score his 15th goal of the season to put the game in reach for the Ducks.
Ryan would later score his 22nd goal of the season in the period as the Ducks were shutout in the 3rd period.
Hiller had 13 saves while opposing goalie Mathieu Garon had 28 saves.
The Ducks will continue to the road trip and head to Raleigh, North Carolina where they will face the Hurricanes on Thursday night.
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