Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning blank Islanders

NEW YORK -- Andrei Vasilevskiy made 34 saves, including 20 in the third period, and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist to help the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-0 win against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on Monday.
JT Brown, Ryan Callahan and Vladislav Namestnikov each had a goal, and Steven Stamkos had two assists for the Lightning (9-6-1), who outscored the Islanders 14-2 in a three-game season-series sweep.
"We sat back probably a little too much in the third and put [Vasilevskiy] in a tough position to make some big saves to earn that shutout," Stamkos said. "But the first two periods were pretty good."

WATCH: All Lightning vs. Islanders highlights
Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves for New York (5-8-3), which is 1-3-3 this month. The Islanders outshot the Lightning 20-4 in the third period but were shut out for the first time this season and must start clicking offensively before things really slip away.
"It's on me," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "I have to find the right combinations for us to find some offense. We've been able to do it in the past. I have faith in myself and my coaching staff. But we have to find a way to get some offense."
Brown gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead with 1:02 remaining in the first period when he beat Halak on a breakaway for his second goal of the season.
Tampa Bay extended its lead before the end of the period when Callahan redirected Andrej Sustr's slap shot past Halak with 19.3 seconds remaining to make it 2-0. It was his first goal of the season.

Kucherov made it 3-0 with his sixth goal at 14:24 of the second period. Namestnikov scored a power-play goal 2:38 later when he took a pass from Stamkos and quickly shot it past Halak for his third goal.
Tampa Bay outshot New York 17-4 in the second period.
"You just keep going, you keep working, you fight your way out of it," Islanders captain John Tavares said. "Obviously, we don't want to be in the spot that we're in, but we're not going to quit. We've just got to stay positive and stay together. All you can do is get up tomorrow and find a way to get better and get yourself through it."

Goal of the game

With the teams at even strength, Islanders defenseman Calvin de Haan got tangled with Lightning forward Brian Boyle in the neutral zone, opening up a lane for Brown. Cedric Paquette sent Brown in alone with a perfect pass to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead late in the first period.

Saves of the game

Vasilevskiy made a save on defenseman Nick Leddy's shot from the point before stopping Tavares on the rebound six minutes into the first period.

Highlight of the game

Kucherov's goal completed a nifty give-and-go with Stamkos after Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech turned over the puck at the blue line. Stamkos found Kucherov in the left circle for the easy tap-in.

Unsung moment of the game

Callahan looked his old self midway through the third period, blocking two shots while the Lightning were down two men for 59 seconds.

They said it

"They did a good job on the [penalty kill]. We blocked shots and made good plays. I just want to say thank you to our guys and thank you for the shutout."-- Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy

"It's hard to explain. There's just years when a team has another team's number. No matter how hard you try, it just feels like you're spinning your wheels. I've been on both sides of this, and it's really, really hard to explain. I don't know if it all of a sudden becomes a mental thing. We've been on the right side of the score against these guys, but there's not much difference in our teams. They're both good hockey clubs. For whatever reason, the pucks have had eyes for us when we've played them, and they haven't for them. But believe me, I'm not complaining."-- Lightning coach Jon Cooper on sweeping the three-game season series against the Islanders

"Last year is last year. We have to let go of that, first and foremost. We have the group in here that can do it. I think that we're confident in who we have as players and everyone that we have in the organization. We've shown that we can do it this year as well; we've played some great games. But we just have to box everything out and restart and try to have a good couple of practices here coming up. (We have) a big game Friday night against obviously one of the top teams in the League (the Pittsburgh Penguins), but certainly one of our rivals as well. We'll be ready for sure, that's 100 percent." -- Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic

Need to know

All four of the Lightning's goals came at even strength. They were 0-for-5 on the power play. … It was the first time New York dressed seven defensemen in Capuano's tenure as coach, which began six years ago Tuesday. … Islanders players donated $26,500 that went towards purchasing tickets for active and retired military members who attended the game.

What's next

Lightning: At the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, FS-D, NHL.TV)
Islanders: Home against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, MSG+, ROOT, NHL.TV)