Who says lightning doesn’t strike twice?
The Tampa Bay Lightning started their 2011 playoff run in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.
The Lightning finished the regular season in 5th place in the Eastern Conference and the Penguins finished in 4th place. The Penguins jumped off to a 3-1 series lead meaning the Lightning would have to win three in a row to win the series. The team went to Pittsburgh for game 5.
The Bolts dominated the Penguins in an 8-2 victory. Game 6 was back in Tampa and the Lightning won a close game 4-2, leading to game 7 in Pittsburg, where it came down to the outstanding goaltending of Dwayne Roloson and a second period goal by Sean Bergenheim which gave the Lightning the win and the series victory4-3.
“We laid it all on the line and did what we had to do to win a hockey game,” Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson said.
The Lightning then headed to Washington D.C. to face the 1st place Capitals in the second round of the playoffs.
In Game 1 the Lightning came out on fire and played the entire game that way and won game 1 4-2. In the second game of the series the Lightning were winning 2-1 with about a minute to go in the game, the Capitals tied the game with a goal by their Captain Alexander Ovechkin tying the game 2-2 at the end of regulation.
In overtime, both teams came out firing shots on both goalies. Lightning Captain Vinny Lecavalier received a beautiful pass from Teddy Purcell and scored the game winner in overtime giving the Lightning a 2-0 lead in the series.
The Lightning return to Tampa for games 3 and 4 at the St. Pete Times Forum on Tuesday and Wednesday.