Lightning edge Blues to continue hot start
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning capped off a strong homestand with a 2-1 victory against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday at Amalie Arena.
Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov scored for the Lightning while Andrei Vasilevskiy, making his fifth consecutive start, finished with 28 saves for Tampa Bay, which has a 4-1-0 record to start the season for the second consecutive season.
Jake Allen stopped 25 shots for St. Louis, which finished off a four-game road with a 2-2 record. Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the Blues.
Tampa Bay swept a three-game homestand that also included victories against Washington and Pittsburgh.
St. Louis, which started the season with four consecutive victories, put the pressure on Tampa Bay in the opening period, firing 15 shots on goal, but was unable to capitalize on its chances.
The Lightning tilted the ice in the other direction during the second period, limiting the Blues to five shots on goal and holding a 30-10 advantage on shot attempts in the period. On Tampa Bay's first power-play chance of the game, the Lightning grabbed the lead.
Late in the man advantage, rookie defenseman Mikhail Sergachev fed Johnson at the left circle. Johnson took two strides toward the net and fired a wrist shot that snuck under the pads of Allen at 8:20 of the second period.
Tampa Bay grabbed a 2-0 lead at the 6:27 mark of the third period when Steven Stamkos chipped a puck in to the offensive zone to Kucherov, who turned his body and flipped a backhand shot over Allen for his fifth goal of the season. Kucherov became the first player in franchise history to score in each of the team's opening five games to the season.
Tarasenko scored his fourth of the season with 3:23 left in the third period.
NOTES: The Lightning held a pregame ceremony honoring their inaugural team as part of the 25th Anniversary Season. Among those present were D Roman Hamrlik, the first-ever draft pick in franchise history, plus Terry Crisp, the team's first head coach. ... St. Louis LW Sammy Blais made his NHL debut. ... Tampa Bay scratched RW J.T. Brown, C Gabriel Dumont and D Andrej Sustr. ... The Blues scratched RW Chris Thorburn, D Nate Prosser and C Wade Megan. ... Tampa Bay has recorded a power-play goal in all five games this season. ... Lightning C Steven Stamkos has points in all five games this season.