Vasilevskiy, Hedman lead Bolts to shutout of Canadiens

The Lightning wrapped up a rocky homestand on a positive note with a 4-0 shutout of the Canadiens on Thursday night.
Victor Hedman provided the offense with a pair of goals, while Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded his third shutout of the season to backstop the victory.

The Bolts got off to a dominating start in the opening 20 minutes.
Hedman quickly got the Lightning up by a goal less than a minute into the game. Nikita Kucherov found Hedman at the point and he wired a shot through Carey Price's five-hole to give Tampa Bay the early lead.
Midway through the first period, Alex Killorn scored his 25th goal of the year to make it 2-0. On a two-on-one break, Killorn held the puck faking a pass before roofing a shot over Price's shoulder to double the lead.

Even as Montreal found its game a bit in the second period, the Lightning managed to extend their lead. With just over a minute to play in the frame, Pat Maroon sent a pass into the crease that Kucherov managed to deflect past Price to make it a three-goal advantage.
With the game already well in hand, Hedman added his second score of the night on a power play with less than two minutes to play in regulation.
Vasilevskiy put together a second-straight quality start. Despite being shouldered with the loss on Tuesday against Boston, Vasilevskiy made 33 saves and followed that up with another 32 tonight in the shutout. For the most part, Tampa Bay's defensive coverage was strong in front of Vasilevskiy. The Bolts did a good job keeping the Canadiens out of dangerous scoring zones and kept pressure to a minimum.
Tampa Bay's much-maligned special teams units also came through on Thursday. The power play converted on one of its three chances while creating several good scoring chances and the penalty kill was a perfect three-for-three on the night.
The Lightning now hit the road on a three-game trip that begins on Saturday with the final matchup of the regular season against the Bruins
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL | 0:49 Victor Hedman (10) - Nikita Kucherov, Erik Cernak
TBL | 12:40 Alex Killorn (25) - Anthony Cirelli
2nd Period
TBL | 18:55 Nikita Kucherov (32) - Pat Maroon, Brayden Point
3rd Period
TBL | 18:57 Victor Hedman (11) - Kevin Shattenkirk, Yanni Gourde - PPG