As a hockey player, it must be reassuring to know that if you make a mistake, there is a world-class goaltender behind you to bail you out. Such was the case tonight as Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 25 Dallas Stars’ shots that he faced to post his first shutout of the season in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 4-0 victory.
Anthony Cirelli scored twice while Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist. Luke Glendening also scored a highlight-worthy goal against his former team. The win snapped a 4-game losing streak for the Lightning and bumps the them back over .500 with an 11-10-5 record.
On a night where the Lightning honored Victor Hedman for playing 1,000 games in a Tampa Bay uniform, it was Vasilevskiy who stole the show, as he calmly made big save after big save throughout the night. With their goaltender on his game, the Lightning built relaxed their grips on their sticks and scored four times, all at even strength.
Of course, it was Nikita Kucherov who kicked off the scoring. First he scored on a spinning shot from the slot, then he picked up a secondary assist on Anthony Cirelli’s shot from the slot off of a nice feed from Erik Cernak. It’s now a ten-game point scoring streak for him as he boosted his league-leading point total to 42.
As solid as their goaltender was, the Lightning as a team played really well, limiting Dallas to just 8 high-danger chances at 5v5. With a determination to simplify their game, the Bolts dropped a lot of pucks down low and focused on their forecheck. In their own zone, they played Dallas tight and prevented them from the dangerous cross-ice passes. When they had the puck on their stick in their own zone, they cleared it quickly.
Still, it was Vasilevskiy who was the difference. With the Lightning nursing a two-goal lead, Dallas had an extended shift in the zone in the first period. While the skaters did a decent job of keeping the puck to the perimeter, Vasy had to make two key saves, the second a pad save that allowed the Lightning to finally clear the puck. It was the type of sequence that all too often has ended up in the back of the net this season for the Lightning. Instead, they held on, regrouped and ramped their intensity back up for the rest of the game.
For one of the few times this season, the Lightning took a lead into the third period and, not only did they not cough it up, they built on it. Luke Glendening blocked a shot in his zone, recovered it and then beat Jake Oettinger with a backhand before crashing into him.
The final period may have been their best. Not only did they score twice, but they also hit the post two times and forced Oettinger into several tough saves. Even when shorthanded, they kept Dallas at bay, allowing just one shot during the Stars’ man-advantage. The Cirelli goal that sealed the game was symbolic of their effort on the night as it was set up by a tough forecheck from Brandon Hagel and Alex Barre-Boulet that set up a turnover that Cirelli cashed in.
Is this finally the game where the Lightning turn things around? It’s too early to tell, but there were a lot of good moments to pull from. Let’s see if they can repeat the effort on Wednesday against the Penguins.
The Lines
The Goals
Nikita Kucherov (Mikhail Sergachev, Steven Stamkos) 1-0 Lightning
Anthony Cirelli (Erik Cernak, Nikita Kucherov) 2-0 Lightning
Luke Glendening (unassisted) 3-0 Lightning
Anthony Cirelli (Brandon Hagel) 4-0 Lightning
