Tampa Bay Lightning earn first shutout of the season against the Blue Jackets

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy picks up his first shutout of the season as the Bolts defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-0 at the Nationwide Arena.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has experienced a great start to the 2017-18 season. Despite the injury bug trying its hardest to creep its way in, the Lightning has continued to overcome and (for the most part) come out on top. Tonight, the Lightning found themselves faced with a new challenge.

The Bolts looked to finish off their three-game road trip on a high note with a victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Considering the way the Tampa Bay Lightning have been playing as of late, this game looked as if it would come down to a battle of the netminders.

There is no denying the first 20 minutes of play between the Lightning and the Blue Jackets was one heck of a back and forth. Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy and Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky would have to make some amazing saves to keep their respective teams in the game.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Unfortunately for Blue Jackets fans, it would eventually be the Lightning who would strike first blood. On an even bigger note for the Bolts, it would be another first. Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev would pick up his first NHL goal at 17:48 in the first to give the Bolts the early lead.

When asked by the Fox Sports Sun about the play, Sergachev was quick to give credit to his linemates Nikita Kucherov and Vladislav Namestnikov

for setting him up. For Kucherov and Namestnikov, it was their fifth assist of the season.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the buzzer would sound to end the first period of play. In addition to leading on the score sheet, the Lightning would also lead the Blue Jackets in Shots on Goal and in the faceoff circle. The Bolts outshot the Blue Jackets 13-10 in the first and dominated 60-40 in the faceoff circle.

Regrettably, Lightning forward Chris Kunitz was sent to the sin bin after the buzzer for slashing Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones. This would mean the Lightning would start the second period on the Penalty Kill. While the Lightning’s special teams has been amazing so far this season, there is no reason to give away chances.

On the bright side, the Lightning was able to kill of the penalty and emerge from the situation unscathed. At the same time, the tide definitely shifted in the second period of play. Well…in one sense. The Blue Jackets would ultimately outshoot the Bolts 18-5 in the second period, which is a big switch from the 13-10 advantage the Lightning had in the first period. However, the Lightning would be the one with the power here.

Lightning fans seemed to get a serious case of déjà vu in the second period. With less than five minutes left in the second period, Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev would strike once again and pick up not only his second goal of the night, but his second goal of his NHL career.

When the buzzer sounded to end the second period of play, the Lightning would lead the Blue Jackets 2-0. The biggest difference here would be the Blue Jackets would outshoot the Bolts in the second. This made for a two period total of 28-18 in favor of the Blue Jackets.

Unfortunately for the Lightning, the pressure would continue well into the third period of play. There were five minutes left in the third period when the Blue Jackets would reach the 40 shots on goal mark. Needless to say, Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy had to work overtime to keep the Bolts in the game.

When the final buzzer sounded to end the game, the Lightning would be the ones to head home with the victory; however, it would not come without an incredibly tough fight from the Columbus Blue Jackets. After being outshot in the first period of play, the Blue Jackets would spend the next two taking it to the Bolts.

The Blue Jackets would ultimately unload 43 shots on goal against Vasilevskiy while the Lightning would only bring 21 to the front door of Sergei Bobrovsky. While these numbers are far from the worst performance the Lightning have ever had, the Bolts are going to have to be more aggressive with the puck if they want their success to continue throughout the season.

So…there are both pros and cons to tonight’s game. Aside from the lack of shots on goal in tonight’s victory, Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov was not able to extend his goal-scoring streak to eight games. At the same time, Kucherov was able to pick up assists on both of Sergachev’s goals, bringing him to 14 points so far.

On the other hand, the Lightning did put on a pretty good show tonight. As we mentioned before, Andrei Vasilevskiy came up big tonight and backstopped the Bolts to their first shutout of the season. In addition, Mikhail Sergachev etched his name into the Lightning history books by picking up not just his first but his second NHL goal in the same game. This seems to be becoming a trend for Tampa Bay Lightning players.

All in all, tonight was a good night for the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts picked up their first shutout of the season, Mikhail Sergachev picked up his first and second goals of the season, and the Lightning brought home five out of a possible six points on their first road trip of the season.

If this isn’t what you call a success, we don’t know what qualifies.

Next: Mikhail Sergachev Picks Up His First NHL Goal (Video)

The Tampa Bay Lightning have a single day off before they head back into the Amalie Arena to take on Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second time this season. The Lightning was able to outlast the Pens in their first encounter, resulting in a 5-4 victory.  As one can easily imagine, the Pens will be looking for some retribution on Saturday night. Hopefully, the Bolts will have something to say about this.