Lightning win top matchup
Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy erased the memory of a bad outing in St. Louis with one solid performance.
Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point scored and the visiting Lightning beat the Blues 3-0 on Tuesday night in a matchup of the NHL’s top two teams.
Tyler Johnson added an empty netter as Tampa Bay (22-6-2) earned its fifth straight win. It was Vasilevskiy’s third shutout of the season and the seventh of his career.
Vasilevskiy, 23, gave up four goals on 16 shots and was pulled from a 5-4 loss at St. Louis last December.
“It’s a pretty good feeling to win here, especially after last year, I played half a game and gave up four goals,” Vasilevskiy said.
Jake Allen made 22 saves for St. Louis, which had won four in a row. The Blues (21-9-2) were shut out for the third time at home this season.
“They’re definitely the best team in the West,” Vasilevskiy said. “It was a tough challenge for us, but the guys played pretty well in front of me.”
Vasilevskiy had several nice saves, turning away Vladimir Tarasenko on a 2-on-1 breakaway in the second period. Vasilevskiy leads the league in wins with 20 and is the sixth NHL goalie to reach 20 wins in his first 25 appearances in a season.
“I didn’t think we made it hard enough on Vasilevskiy,” Allen said. “He’s been the best goalie in the league this year, and it’s not even really close. We put pucks on net, but it was pretty easy for him.” Hurricanes 3, Golden Knights 2: Cam Ward earned his 300th career win when Phillip Di Giuseppe’s goal in the fifth round of a shootout lifted Carolina to the win in Las Vegas. Blackhawks 3, Panthers 2: Patrick Kane scored 2:24 into overtime to lift host Chicago to its third straight win. Toews and Saad each had a goal and an assist. Blackhawks rookie Alex DeBrincat added two assists. Devils 5, Kings 1: Taylor Hall scored twice and host New Jersey ended Los Angeles’ eight-game winning streak. Travis Zajac, Brian Boyle and Brian Gibbons also scored for the Devils, who snapped a two-game skid. Capitals 5, Avalanche 2: John Carlson scored a tie-breaking goal in the second period and host Washington got its eighth win in 10 games. Brett Connolly, Matt Niskanen and Devante SmithPelly added third-period goals for the Capitals. Oilers 7, Blue Jackets 2: Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists, and Laurent Brossoit stopped 28 shots as visiting Edmonton routed Columbus. Mark Letestu, Matt Benning and Jesse Puljujarvi each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who chased Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky at the end of the second period. Sabres 3, Senators 2: Evander Kane, Kyle Okposo and Benoit Pouliot scored in the second period to lead host Buffalo past sinking Ottawa, which is 1-10-2 in its past 13 games. Rasmus Ristolainen had two assists for the Sabres, and Robin Lehner made 24 saves against his old team. Flyers 4, Maple Leafs 2: Sean Couturier scored the tie-breaking goal with 2:55 left and Philadelphia beat visiting Toronto for its fourth straight victory. Patrick Marleau and James van Riemsdyk scored for the Maple Leafs, who played without center Auston Matthews (upper body) for the second consecutive game. Wild 2, Flames 1: Mikael Granlund scored the winning goal in a shootout and host Minnesota edged Calgary. The shootout reached the fifth round before Granlund beat Mike Smith. Alex Stalock stopped Michael Ferland to give Minnesota its third straight victory.