A true journeyman goaltender, Matt Tomkins’ path to the NHL went from Indianapolis to Rockford to Sweden to Tampa. On Tuesday night, 11 years after he was drafted by Chicago, he made 22 saves on 25 shots to pick up his first NHL victory. Another first-period offensive explosion propelled the Bolts to victory. Nikita Kucherov scored 22 seconds into the game and his tally was followed by ones from Nick Paul, Alex Barre-Boulet, and Mikey Eyssimont. Paul scored again in the third period on the power play.
First Period:
There were two ways this could go.