The Tampa Bay Lightning refused to play down to their competition this time. Fueled by goals from Steven Stamkos, Ryan Callahan and Victor Hedman and sparkling goaltending by Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Bolts blanked the Buffalo Sabres at Amalie Arena tonight.
Vailevskiy was the surprise starter after Ben Bishop was hit in a below-the-belt “sensitive” area during the morning skate.
The first period saw the Lightning start slow, display poor puck management and be bailed out by Vasilevskiy time after time. Starting slow has become an issue for Jon Cooper and the Bolts.
The lone goal of the period was scored by Steven Stamkos as he beat former teammate Anders Lindback short side for his 36th goal at 16:37 from Alex Killorn and Andrej Sustr. The goal was Stamkos’ third in the last three games and his eighth in nine games.
Shots for the period were 12-10 in favor of Tampa Bay.
Stamkos’ goal and his physical play woke the Bolts up. With Buffalo’s Rasmus Ristolainen in the box for hooking and Andrej Meszaros in for slashing, Ryan Callahan scored his 20th at 2:48 of the second period. The goal was assisted by Tyler Johnson and Valtteri Filppula. The goal gave Callahan his fourth 20 goal season and first since 2011-12.
Victor Hedman rifled a shot to the far post for a goal with Mezaros still in the box. Hedman’s eighth of the year was assisted by Anton Stralman and Ondrej Palat at 4:24.
New Bolt Braydon Coburn made his pugilistic debut late in the second period in a bout with the Sabres Marcus Foligno.
Tampa Bay dominated play in the second period. After Stamkos’ first period tally, Buffalo went 19:50 without a single shot on goal. The Lightning went two-for-two on the power play.
Shots for the period were 17-4 Tampa Bay.
The third period saw the Lightning shut it down and finish off the Sabres in business-like fashion with goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy making some good saves and not allowing rebounds.
Shots for the game were 35-28 in favor of Tampa Bay.
The Lightning are now 27-0-2 when leading after two periods.
Twenty year old rookie netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots and earned his first NHL shutout. He is the youngest goalie in franchise history to do so.
According to beat reporter Erik Erlendsson, Cooper said Vasilevskiy was scheduled to start all along and that he knew yesterday he was starting.
Nikita Nesterov (healthy) and Matt Carle (abdominal surgery – due back next week) were the scratches.
The Lightning will host the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday night.
(Feature Photograph/Getty Images)
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