The Tampa Bay Lightning earned their second straight win on Monday behind hard work, and the line of Ilya Mikheyev, Zemgus Girgensons and Pontus Holmberg led the way.
Holmberg scored the game-winning goal in the second period and then set up the insurance marker for Ilya Mikheyev in the third period as Tampa Bay beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1.
“Chalk that up as the best line on the ice, and that's a tough assignment. (Flyers forwards) Tyson Foerster and Noah Cates, those guys are really dependable, hard players to play against, and our guys did a heck of a job,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “They just know one way. They have an extreme will, they all can skate, they all get around the ice, they all can control the puck, control the play, and you're happy when they make plays like they did.”
Brayden Point’s first goal of the year got the home team on the board at Benchmark International Arena. Point worked to the front of the Flyers’ net and redirected a point shot from defenseman John Carlson with just 3:55 left in the opening frame.
It marked Point’s first goal and second point of the year.
“What I love about him is he's winning his battles, he's skating,” Cooper said of Point. “It’s weird that the goal he has this year is a tip like that was, where I think some of the other chances he's had haven't gone quite in for him, but those are always big exhale goals, and Pointer has been one of those guys that when he gets one, he usually gets a bunch. So hopefully that's what happens.”
Tampa Bay didn’t rest on its lead, quickly making it 2-0 a mere 17 seconds out of the first intermission–Holmberg opted to shoot on a 3-on-1 rush, sending his shot into the top right corner of the net past Flyers goalie Dan Vladar to open the second period.
Girgensons chipped the puck to the neutral zone, where Mikheyev picked it up, gained the offensive blue line and slid the puck to Holmberg. The Swedish forward buried the open look for his first goal of the year.
“They're excellent at checking, and you can see what they can do in the offensive zone. I really like them together,” Point said of that trio. “They’ve got a lot of speed, a lot of size, and it seems like they have the puck a lot.”
Philadelphia got involved in the offense 7:22 into the second period with a Tyson Foerster shot from the top of the left circle that took an unfriendly bounce for the Lightning.
Shortly after erasing a Flyers power play, it was the Mikheyev-Girgensons-Holmberg line that sealed the victory with the 3-1 goal.
Holmberg intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, deked through Flyers defenseman David Jiricek and fed the puck to Mikheyev, who wrapped the puck around the net and scored his first goal as a Bolt at the left post with three minutes left.
“It was just a simple play, good forecheck in the neutral zone,” Mikheyev said. “Sometimes when you work hard, you get some results.”
He said playing with his new linemates has been seamless.
"We just try to play simple and just try to play both ways,” he said, “and it's step by step for us."
Brandon Hagel then sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the dying seconds of the game. Nikita Kucherov joined Mikheyev and Holmberg as the team’s co-leaders in scoring with two points apiece.
The Lightning also saw a trio of players move up the history books in Monday’s win:
- Ryan McDonagh skated in his 400th game with the Lightning, becoming the 23rd player and seventh defenseman in franchise history to do so.
- Kucherov’s secondary assist on the 1-0 goal was the 1,127th of his career, passing Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Bossy for 15th all-time among right wingers.
- Carlson’s assist on the Point goal was his 500th career even-strength point, making him the second American defenseman (Phil Housley 610) and the 16th defenseman all-time to reach the mark.
The Lightning outshot Philadelphia 36-14 in the win while going 0-for-3 on the power play and erasing three Flyers power plays. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 13 saves for his second straight win.
The Lightning penalty kill was particularly impressive, holding the Flyers to three total shots on the power play while earning some shorthanded looks along the way. Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay concludes its first homestand of the season this Thursday with a 7 p.m. clash against the Minnesota Wild.
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- Pontus Holmberg, TBL (Goal, assist)
- Ilya Mikheyev, TBL (Goal, assist)
- Brayden Point, TBL (Goal)
