Lightning 4, Avalanche 0
DENVER -- Ben Bishop stopped 21 shots for his second shutout of the season, center Steven Stamkos had two goals and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-0 on Tuesday night.
Left winger Ondrej Palat and center Tyler Johnson also had goals. Center Vladislav Namestnikov and defenseman Victor Hedman had two assists each for Tampa Bay .The Lightning finished their four-game Western Conference road strip with three straight victories.
Stamkos notched his fifth multi-goal game of the season and 54th of his career.
The Avalanche held a pregame ceremony to commemorate right wing Jarome Iginla's 600th goal, which he scored Jan. 4 against Los Angeles. They then proceeded to play flat with a chance to improve their position in the standings after losses by Nashville and Minnesota.
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov had 34 saves but struggled for the second straight game. He allowed four goals on 20 shots in a loss at Chicago on Sunday.
He gave up his eighth goal in the last two games when Johnson stuffed in a rebound at 11:55 of the third period.
Tampa Bay dominated the first period but led only 1-0 on Palat's third goal of the season at 10:29. He scored six seconds after Colorado killed off a penalty when he picked up Hedman's rebound and flicked it into the net.
The Lightning extended the lead early in the second period. Stamkos got his first goal when he finished off a nice passing sequence from Palat and Namestnikov 1:39 into the frame. Less than four minutes later, Namestnikov fed Stamkos from behind the net into the slot and the center beat Varlamov with a one-timer for his 20th of the season at 5:16.
Colorado generated few chances through the first two periods.
NOTES: Avalanche D Erik Johnson skated Tuesday morning but is still not ready to take part in a full practice. Johnson suffered a lower-body injury against Los Angeles on Jan. 4 and has not played since. "We'll know more the more he's going to be on the ice," Colorado coach Patrick Roy said. ... Tampa Bay goaltender Ben Bishop allowed two or fewer goals in 24 of his first 33 starts. Bishop ranked tied for sixth in the NHL for goals-against average (2.06)entering Tuesday. ... Avalanche D Tyson Barrie was named the NHL's third star for the week ending Sunday. He had three goals -- two game-winners -- and three assists. ... Entering Tuesday the Lightning were 0-5-0 in the last game of a multigame road trip.