So the big difference between the teams was that the Lightning were able to convert on two of their looks. The first of those came in the final minute of the first period. The sequence began with a St. Louis turnover in the offensive zone. Dmitrij Jaskin and Joel Edmundson got crossed up on a passing sequence and that miscue allowed the Lightning to counter. Tyler Johnson sped into the offensive zone, curled behind the net and, as he exited on the other side, slid a pass to Brayden Point in the slot. Jaskin deflected Point's initial shot with his glove, and the puck hit the post. It caromed perfectly back to Point at the right circle, who, from that position, had an open net look. He put it in to give the Lightning the lead. Certainly, there was a little bit of luck in how the puck ricocheted back to Point, but the Lightning earned that break with how they entered the offensive zone with speed and generated a good chance off the rush.
On the second goal, Nikita Kucherov stole a pass in the neutral zone, gave it to Mikhail Sergachev and skated into the offensive zone. He received a return feed from Sergachev in the high slot and zipped a sizzling wrist shot into the top corner of the net.
Vasilevskiy finished with 32 saves for his third shutout win this year. He made several high quality stops, including first period saves on point blank chances for Kyle Brodziak and Vladimir Sobotka. He also made seven tough saves on Vladimir Tarasenko during the game. Then there were the chances that Vasilevskiy didn't have to stop. The Blues had three two-on-one rushes in the second period, but couldn't execute on any of them. Anton Stralman broke up a pass on the first, Tarasenko missed the net on the second and on the third, Sobotka's pass attempt to Tarasenko deflected off a Lightning stick. That last one required a Vasilevskiy save, but it was a more routine save than had the pass reached Tarasenko. Then, in the third, Sobotka had an open net look on a pass from Tarasenko, but his shot went wide. (Incidentally, Sergachev also missed on an open-net rebound chance earlier in the third).
So thanks to some key offensive zone plays and timely goaltending, the Lightning won their fifth game in a row and began this four-game road trip on a good note.
Lightning Radio Big Moment of the Game:
Point's first period goal.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
