Jonas Johansson backstops Lightning to 4-2 victory over Mammoth
Jonas Johansson stopped 25-of-27 shots and Jake Guentzel’s third period goal proved to be the difference as the Tampa Bay Lightning picked up their fifth win in a row with a 4-2 victory over the Utah Mammoth. Yanni Gourde, Anthony Cirelli, and Brandon Hagel provided the offense to help Johansson to his third win in four starts on the season.
Curtis Douglas returned to the line-up to face his original organization and played 3:01, with his biggest impact coming in the first period when he knocked down Brandon Tanev with a hit along the boards. Gourde snapped an eight-game goalless stretch with a nice tap-in goal in the first period.
First Period:
What did we like? For the most part the Lightning limited long sustained action in their own zone. Utah only had six shots on goal off of seven scoring chances. The Bolts had really solid coverage when the puck was in the zone.
What did we not like? Utah was able to generate a couple of Grade A chances through the middle of the ice, including the game-opening goal by Lawson Crouse. There is a little bad luck as Gage Goncalves wasn’t expecting the hit from behind and it took some steam off of his shot attempt. Emil Lilleberg is expecting the puck to go deep and is caught flat-footed, allowing Crouse to cruise past him.
Lawson Crouse [2] (Ian Cole)
What did we like? The Lightning’s response after the goal. They matched the pace of Utah for much of the period (Dominic James had one of his best scoring opportunities in a Lightning uniform on his own breakaway). They also had a nice response after a penalty kill. The Gourde line was able to connect on a nice passing play for a tap-in goal.
Yanni Gourde [3] (Emil Lilleberg, Zemgus Girgensons)
One more like – the power play. It didn’t lead to a goal, but the entries were much better and they had two golden opportunities. Karel Vejmelka made a couple of nice sprawling saves on the first attempt and Brayden Point had the puck roll off of his stick when he was unmarked in the slot.
Second Period
What we liked. How about a quick start to the period? Less than three minutes into the period Anthony Cirelli snapped a shot from the top of the circle that beat Vejmalka thanks to a screen from Curtis Douglas. The Bolts had five of the first six shot attempts of the period. With second periods occasionally giving them a headache this season, getting the pressure (and lead) early on let them play their game.
Anthony Cirelli [7] (Jake Guentzel, Victor Hedman)
What we didn’t like. The penalties. It’s not quite as egregious as it was prior to the winning streak, but the Bolts took two penalties in the period and they both sapped a little momentum. Erik Cernak’s holding penalty was a result of Kailer Yamamoto getting behind the defense and Charle-Edouard’s trip gave the Mammoth a little life.
What we liked. Jonas Johansson’s play through the first two periods. He stopped a breakaway in the first period, and a point-blank shot from Clayton Keller on Utah’s first power play in the second period. The Lightning’s play in front of him denied a lot of shots on goal (they blocked eight shots through two periods) so he had to be sharp when the shots did come his way.
What we didn’t like. The power play. Their opportunity in the second period wasn’t as productive as the one in the first. They were a little more passive and complacent with the puck. Utah was able to settle in the box and watch them pass the puck around the perimeter.
Third Period:
What we didn’t like. The start of the period. With the teams at 4-on-4 thanks to some late second period pushing-and-shoving, Utah came out flying. Johansson had to make two sprawling saves to preserve the lead, but when Kailer Yamamoto slipped unnoticed on the weak side, the Lightning goaltender had no chance to make the save. Yamamoto had been one of Utah’s best players over the first forty minutes and he snapped a perfect shot up and over Johansson’s blocker.
Kailer Yamamoto [1] (Ian Cole)
What we liked. The Lightning’s response after the goal. Too many times over the last few years, a goal against would lead to a downward spiral and one goal would lead to two or three. Tampa Bay regained their structure in their zone and bottled things up. There wasn’t much in terms of sustained success, but they generate quality chances from Brandon Hagel and Ryan McDonagh.
With the game back to a stalemate, the Lightning were able to steal a goal. Off of a face-off win, Jake Guentzel wheeled behind the Utah net and wristed in a shot on the short side as Vejmalka was slow to cover the post. A little chaos near his crease as Point was knocked down might have distracted him a bit.
Jake Guentzel [5] (unassisted)
Final thing we liked. Victor Hedman’s last two shifts. The Big Swede has had some up and down games this season. Heck, he’s been up-and-down in single games. Tonight was overall a pretty solid game from him, with the exception of a couple of turnovers, but his last two shifts were really good. With Utah pressing for the tying goal, Hedman blocked a shot, cleared the rebound from danger (but not out), and then closed off a play right after that.
A couple long-distant attempts at the empty net went wide (credit to Nikita Kucherov for hustling on one to deny the icing), but the Lightning finally got the insurance goal when Ryan McDonagh stepped up at the blue line and backhanded a pass to Brandon Hagel in the neutral zone. Mr. Empty Net did his thing and skated the puck into the yawning void.
Brandon Hagel [4] (Ryan McDonagh) Empty Net
Tyler Warren's hair is just one awesome feature of multi-dimensional Colts rookie tight end
Tyler Warren does it all.
That includes pulling off shoulder-length blonde hair as an NFL tight end.
The Indianapolis Colts' rookie, taken No. 14 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft out of Penn State, is clearly special.
The hair just completes the picture.
There don't appear to be any real origin stories of the hair. Warren's early PSU pictures have him with shorter hair, so it was an in-college decision.
Once he started growing it, Warren clearly decided not to stop.
It just added to the vibe of one of the best players in the country. Penn State threw to him a ton, of course. But they also let him run the ball and even throw the ball.
The Colts had to have been thrilled when Warren made it to No. 14 in the first round. He wasn't even the first tight end chosen. The Chicago Bears took Colston Loveland at No. 10, a move that hasn't aged well so far.
Warren looks like he can be the centerpiece of Indy's passing attack for years and years to come. He's been a favorite target of Daniel Jones, and yes, Warren already has a rushing TD this season, too.
It wouldn't be shocking at all to see a few youngsters in the Indianapolis area begin growing out their hair, too. If Tyler can do it, why not them?
It's hard to pull it off the way Warren has, though. He's so impressive on the field that the flowing hair just adds to the picture. And so far, it's quite the exquisite picture.
