First, Steven Stamkos became the Lightning's all-time franchise leader in goals. His 384th career tally came on a deflection - he gained body position on Arizona's Mario Kempe in the low slot and tipped Ryan McDonagh's point shot perfectly into the top of the net. Interestingly, this record-setting goal was similar to his first career tally. That one occurred in Buffalo and was scored when Stamkos tipped in a Vinny Lecavalier shot. While the vast majority of Stamkos' goals have been scored on wrist shots or one-timers, the fact that goals #1 and #384 (along with others in between) came on tips further illustrates his ability to score goals in a variety of ways.
Second, the Lightning clinched the Atlantic Division title, the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the Presidents' Trophy. It's their first-ever Presidents' Trophy and they were able to clinch it with nearly three weeks left in the regular season.
Now to the game itself. The Arizona Coyotes entered the contest on a 13-4-1 run and had moved into the second Wildcard position in the Western Conference. They had done it with team defense (entering the contest ranked ninth in the league in goals against per game). That tight team D was on display against the Lightning. The Coyotes were structured and disciplined in their positioning. They were very effective with their sticks, disrupting Lightning passes and shot attempts. They didn't allow a single odd-man rush. Arizona limited the Lightning to only a few scoring chances for the entire game.
Facing that kind of committed defensive opponent, the Lightning had to make sure they also took care of business defensively. Early on, that was a problem area for Tampa Bay. In the opening minutes, the Lightning committed some turnovers and had coverage issues. The Coyotes turned those problems into four Grade-A scoring chances, one of which went in the net. But Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped the other three and added a fourth key save late in the first period when he denied a Michael Grabner breakaway. Thanks to those stops and the nifty Stamkos tip, the Lightning came out of the first period tied at one.
After their early defensive hiccups, the Lightning tightened things up. Arizona, like Tampa Bay, didn't generate many chances over the final 40 minutes. The Coyotes had a few, but either their best looks missed the net or Vasilevskiy stopped them. In the opening minute of the third, the Lightning cashed in on one of the few Arizona mistakes. Victor Hedman stepped in from the point and beat his man to the front of the net. Anthony Cirelli's cross-ice pass led to Hedman's eventual game-winner.
Similar to the Washington game on Saturday, the Lightning scored two empty-netters to turn a one-goal game into a three-goal victory. But this was another very close game. Credit to the Lightning for rebounding after a sloppy start and not letting Arizona's structure frustrate them into giving the Coyotes any freebies.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
1. Ryan McDonagh - Lightning. Assist.
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy - Lightning. 28 saves.
3. Clayton Keller - Coyotes. Goal.