By: John Mamola

Steven Stamkos scores his 60^th goal of the season, and Teddy Purcell’s hat trick seal the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 2011-2012 season with a 4-3 overtime win over the Winnipeg Jets.  Stamkos becomes the 20^th player in NHL history to score 60+ goals in a single season.


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The Tampa Bay Lightning get their 38^th win of the season in front of a sold out crowd at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.  A game in which both teams were eliminated from anything in the postseason, had the feel of a playoff game as both teams played the full 60 minutes at a postseason pace.

The Lightning would get the first tally of the game late in the first period. Teddy Purcell ripped a faceoff win by Vincent LeCavalier past the glove of Ondrej Pavelec to get the Bolts out to a 1-0 lead.

Purcell would his the back of the net again in the second period as he notched his second goal of the game just over a minute into the period.  The Bolts lead 2-0 early in the second.

The Jets refused to go quietly in their home finale as they got back into the game minutes after Purcell’s second tally.  Nik Antropov charged down the slot and scored on a one-timer from Antti Miettinen cutting the Bolts’ lead in half to 2-1.

The Bolts were outshot 15-6 in the second period, and out shot 31-25 overall in the game.

History was made as the Bolts took a 3-1 lead in the third period as Steven Stamkos scored his 60^th goal of the season.  With the goal, Stamkos becomes the 20^th player in NHL history to score 60+ goals in a season.  The goal for Stamkos, who just turned 22, would be his 48^th even strength goal, which is the most of anyone since Teemu Selanne in the 1991-1992 NHL season.

Stamkos scored the goal off a pass from Marty St. Louis and blasted a one timer past Pavelec.  The sold out crowd in Winnipeg did give Stamkos a standing ovation after scoring the historic goal.

The celebration didn’t last long however as the Jets took advantage of some defensive lapses by the Lightning.  Jim Slater scored his 12^th goal of the season splitting the defense and netting a shot past Dwayne Roloson making it 3-2.

With time running out on the season, the Jets extended the game with another goal off the stick of Jim Slater making it a 3-3 tie.  The goal was scored after a non-call on Slater as he slashed the stick out of Dwayne Roloson’s hand, in which Slater then took the pass to score the goal past Roloson.

The game would go to overtime, and Teddy Purcell would end the season with a hat trick goal, his 24^th goal of the season, sealing the Bolts 4-3 overtime win.

Dwayne Roloson gets his sixth win in his last eight starts finishing with 28 saves, and getting his 13^th win of the season in net.

The Lightning will now head back home finishing with a record of 38-36-8.