Lightning stay hot in win over Blues
It was the best of the East against the best of the West and a possible Stanley Cup preview as The Tampa Bay Lightning matched up against the St. Louis Blues.
The physically imposing Blues against the Speed and skill of the Lightning. Tampa dominated the first period and Brayden Point was able to get the first goal of the game in the last minute of play as the Lightning took a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The second period which has been the Achilles heel of the Lightning so often almost got them again had it not been for the play of Andre Vasilesky who bailed his team out again and again with a couple of fantatstic saves to help the Lightning maintain the lead after two periods.
The Lightning seemed to play a tad better in the third period despite being outshot 14-7. Nikita Kucherov notched his 21st of the season and Tyler Johnson added his 7th to wrap up the scoring and a 3-0 win for the Lightning. Vasilevskiy who has continued to play better and better as the season has gone along notched his third shutout and collected his 20th win of the season. Vasilevskiy also dropped his GAA to 2.15 which is second in the NHL behind Aaron Dell of San Jose.
This was the first time the Lightning have won in St. Louis Since the 09-10 season and the first win in the Jon Copper era. With the win, the Lightning sweep the series form the Blues as they beat the Blues at Amalie on Oct. 14th.
This was the third shut out of the season for Vasilevskiy and the Lightning, and as team the Lightning are allowing 2.34 goals a game Which is third in the league behind LA and San Jose.
The Lightning will continue their Western swing as they stop in Phoenix to play against the Coyotes on Thursday night followed by a trip to Colorado Saturday and then will wrap up the trip in Vegas against the expansion Knights on Tuesday night.
The Coyotes who own the worst record in the NHL could be a trap game for the Lightning. Last year the Lightning went in to Phoenix and got beat badly 5-3 and were outshot 48-23. That was in the middle of last years January swoon which ultimately cost the Lightning a playoff spot.
Different team different year, and the Lightning are playing their best hockey of the season. The Lightning also seem to play to the level of their competition at times and that tends to get them in trouble in some of these games.
The Coyotes have rebounded well from their 2-15-3 start and have gone 4-5-2 since the horrific start. The Coyotes issues are numerous as they are last in defense allowing 3.4 goals a game. Offensively the Coyotes are 30th in the league averaging 2.2 goals a game.
