Tampa Bay Lightning G Andrei Vasilevskiy earns 6th shutout in victory over Sabres
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 34 shots on goal to pick up his 6th career shutout in a 2-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
The Tampa Bay Lightning had a lot to prove in tonight’s encounter with the Buffalo Sabres. Coming into tonight’s endeavor, the Lightning found themselves on a two-game losing streak with losses to both the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively.
There were a few questions coming into tonight’s game; the biggest one being which players would be in the lineup and how said players would be paired up. Lightning fans got both good news and bad news just before the start of the game.
Delving into the dark side first, Andrej Sustr was in the lineup tonight. On the other hand, Slater Koekkoek was also in the lineup. As the old saying goes, “you win some, you lose some.”
Tampa Bay Lightning forward J.T. Brown, who had previously said he was “good to go” in tonight’s game against the Sabres, served as one of the team’s scratches tonight. It is unknown at this point whether or not Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper will elect to mix him into the lineup tomorrow night in Boston.
Emotions were high when the puck hit the ice at the KeyBank Center tonight. Lightning fans had really high expectations for the team at the start of the game. While the Bolts didn’t exactly have the highest-octane start to the game, but they did manage to forge their way to a one-goal lead before the buzzer sounded to end the period.
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It would be Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev who would light the lamp for the Bolts, striking first blood. Sergachev’ first-period goal was the 6th of the season for the young defenseman. The assists on the goal went to Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat.
When the buzzer sounded to end the first period of play, the Lightning led the Sabres 1-0. On paper, it looked as if the Sabres may have had a slight advantage. The Sabres outshot the Bolts 10-9. At the same time, the Bolts dominated the faceoff circle, beating the Sabres on 60 percent of the faceoffs.
While there was an even amount of back-and-forth between the Lightning and the Sabres in the second period, the Lightning still found a way to come out on top. Much like the first period of play, it took until after the halfway point in the period before Lightning would strike, but it was a strike nonetheless.
At 12:08 in the second period, Lightning defenseman Dan Girardi would pick up his first goal of the season with one heck of a shot from the blueline. Of course, this goal didn’t come without some heroics from the captain, Steven Stamkos. Stammer had to channel some serious ninja skills to clear the way for Girardi’s shot.
As the period prepared to come to a close, there was a moment where both Lightning and Sabres fans alike took a collective gasp. The play was near the back of the net when Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn laid a hit on Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. Ristolainen had a nasty collision with the net; which left him headed to the bench in a serious amount of pain.
The good news here for the Sabres is Ristolainen was able to rejoin his teammates on the ice in the second period. He may not be a Bolt, but no self-respecting fan ever wants to see a player get seriously injured.
When the buzzer sounded once again, the Lightning would now have a 2-0 lead over the Sabres. In what could be considered as a serious case of déjà vu, the Sabres would outshoot the Bolts by a single shot. The Lightning would trail the Sabres 10-11 in Shots on Goal for a two-period total of 19-21 in favor of the Sabres.
This is where a rather interesting third period would start. The Sabres definitely controlled the play, outshooting the Lightning 13-7 in the third period, for a three-period total of 34-26; however, the Bolts were presented with quite a few glorious opportunities they failed to take advantage of.
Just past the halfway point in the third, the Lightning would find themselves with their second Power Play opportunity of the night as Sabres defenseman Nathan Beaulieu was sent to the sin bin for Slashing against Lightning forward Ryan Callahan. A little more than 30 seconds later, the Bolts would find themselves with a 5-on-3 opportunity as Ristolainen was sent off for two minutes for High-Sticking captain Steven Stamkos.
12. 2. 23. Final. 0
The disappointing part here is even though the Lightning had some of their top players on the ice, the team still wasn’t able to capitalize on the opportunity and the Sabres were able to kill the penalty. Granted, the team was already up by two goals, but that doesn’t mean you back down when you have an opportunity in front of you.
Despite their shortcomings in tonight’s encounter, the Lightning was able to hold on to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 and leapfrog over the St. Louis Blues for the 1st place spot in the National Hockey League. This achievement was in no small part attributed to Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Vasilevskiy saved all 34 shots brought against him tonight, picking up his 6th shutout of his young NHL career. In the 19 games he’s started this season, he’s maintained a 15-3-1 record with a Goals Against Average of 2.31 and a Save Percentage of .930. It should come as no surprise he was named the First Star of the Night.
As we mentioned before, the Lightning had a lot to prove tonight in Buffalo, and for the most part, the Lightning achieved their goal. The real test is going to be tomorrow night. The Lightning will travel to the TD Garden to take on the Boston Bruins and finish off their back-to-back series.
It will definitely be interesting to see whether or not the Bolts choose to go with Vasilevskiy between the pipes for the second-straight game or utilize backup netminder Peter Budaj. Another question will be whether or not Coach Cooper will keep the same lines from tonight or mix in J.T. Brown.
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No matter what the case may be, the Lightning truly needs to charge into Boston ready for a fight. The Bruins have always been a very physical team, and they won’t waste a single second in pouncing on a tired Lightning team heading into the second night of a back-to-back series.