Best of the Bolts: Round of 16 Voting – Tampa Bay Bracket

Voting for the first group of the Round of 16 in the Best of the Bolts matchup starts at noon on August 10 and ends at noon on August 12. Each matchup is listed below and you can vote as many times as you’d like for your favorite play in each matchup.

BUTT GOAL vs. GARRISON MAKES HISTORY ON OPENING NIGHT

MAY 22, 2016: THE BUTT GOAL

Lightning defenseman Jason Garrison sure looked like he’d scored his second game-winning goal of the 2016 playoffs when he snapped a wrist shot from the left dot past Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury 53 seconds into overtime of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Garrison had already supplied the game-winner in a pivotal Game 4 win at the New York Islanders in the second round.

Garrison continued to find overtime magic in Pittsburgh, his timely shot giving the Lightning a 4-3 victory in Game 5 vs the Penguins. Replay would show Garrison’s shot changed direction slightly when it hit Johnson’s backside.

“I thought (Garrison) was going for my head again, so I just turned around,” Johnson, credited with the winning tally, said after Game 5. Johnson undoubtedly was feeling apprehensive about getting hit in the face again after taking a puck to the mouth in warmups of Game 4, opening a cut that would require stitches and force him to wear a full cage in that game.

Johnson’s self-preservation reflex turned out to be the right move for the Lightning as it tipped the puck past Fleury and put the Lightning just one win away from a second-straight Eastern Conference championship and a spot in the Stanley Cup Final.

OCTOBER 8, 2015: GARRISON MAKES HISTORY ON OPENING NIGHT

Jason Garrison will forever be the answer to an NHL trivia question.

Who scored the first goal under the NHL’s new 3-on-3 overtime format?

Answer: Garrison

The league …

continue reading in source lightning.nhl.com