Ducks can’t get it going
Stamkos scores twice for Lightning and Anaheim fails to pick up momentum.
TAMPA, Fla. — Steven Stamkos scored two goals for Tampa Bay and the Ducks had to settle for a 2-2 trip after a 5-0 loss to the Lightning on Saturday night.
Ben Bishop made 30 saves for the Lightning to earn his first shutout of the season.
“Tough league, you’ve got to string wins together,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said. “Win one, lose one, those kind of things, it doesn’t build anything in the standings, it doesn’t build anything in the room.”
Nikita Kucherov, Brian Boyle and Jonathan Marchessault also scored for the Lightning, which had only 21 goals in the previous 13 games.
“We’ve been feeling better about our game lately,” Stamkos said. “We know this group can do some good things.”
Tampa Bay was the NHL’s highest-scoring team last season en route to the Eastern Conference championship.
“It’s going to come around,” Tampa Bay Coach Jon Cooper said. “The goals are starting to come. I know it’s just one game, but they’re playing the right way.”
Stamkos put the Lightning up 3-0 on a pair of goals midway through the second. After beating Frederik Andersen from the top of the right circle at 12:35, Stamkos was left all alone in the low left circle during a power play and scored off a pass through the slot by Kucherov 1:14 later.
Stamkos has seven goals and 12 points in seven games against the Ducks.
Kucherov broke the ice when he scored at 5:57 of the second period. The Ducks have been outscored 28-8 during the middle session this season.
“It’s just the inconsistency in our game,” Getzlaf said. “Game-to-game, period-to-period. I don’t think it’s so much focused on one period. We’ve got to find a way to build something where we’re finding a way to play the right way all time.”
Stamkos had no goals over his previous three games; Kucherov had gone six in a row without one.
“You could just see them take a breath after that,” Cooper said. “It was good. Everybody elevated their play after that.”
Boyle and Marchessault, during a power play, had third-period goals.
Ryan Kesler hit the post with nine minutes left in the second, a play that saw Bishop use the top of his goalie stick while leaning backward to keep the puck that bounced off him from going into the net.
It was that kind of game for the Ducks.