Tampa Bay didn’t have Santa’s sleigh but still came out flying on Monday night, taking a 2-0 lead in the first period and beating the St. Louis Blues 4-1 at Benchmark International Arena.
Pontus Holmberg scored 21 seconds into the game by tipping Darren Raddysh’s point shot, and Raddysh made it 2-0 with a power-play goal from the point 9:12 into the first period.
The Blues got a Justin Faulk goal in the second period, but Anthony Cirelli made it 3-1 Lightning shortly after. Oliver Bjorkstrand’s 400th NHL point came on a power-play goal to make it 4-1 Tampa Bay in the third period.
Raddysh led the Lightning on offense with a goal and two assists. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves, while Jordan Binnington had 13 for the Blues. Jake Guentzel and Nikita Kucherov each had two assists for Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay now gets a four-day rest for the holidays before resuming play on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena against the Florida Panthers.
Scoring summary
First period
TBL 1, STL 0
00:21 Pontus Holmberg (4) - Darren Raddysh, Zemgus Girgensons
Tampa Bay scored on the game’s opening shift when forward Pontus Holmberg deflected Darren Raddysh’s point shot through Binnington.
TBL 2, STL 0
9:12 Raddysh (8) - Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel - PP
A Raddysh one-timer from atop the Lightning power play doubled the home team’s lead just as the Blues’ first penalty of the game was ending.
Shots on goal: TBL 6, STL 5
Second period
TBL 2, STL 1
6:43 Justin Faulk (10) - Tyler Tucker, Otto Stenberg
The Blues entered the scoring with a slap shot from Justin Faulk at the point following a pass from Tyler Tucker.
TBL 3, STL 1
8:01 Anthony Cirelli (10) - Raddysh
Anthony Cirelli restored the Lightning two-goal advantage by tipping Raddysh’s shot from the blue line only 1:18 after the Blues got on the scoreboard.
Shots on goal: STL 11, TBL 7
Third period
TBL 4, STL 1
5:36 Oliver Bjorkstrand (6) - Guentzel, Kucherov - PP
Tampa Bay’s second power-play goal of the game came on Bjorkstrand’s 400th NHL point, this one a shot through the legpads of Binnington.
Total shots: STL 24, TBL 17
