Vasilevskiy helps lift Lightning to a 2-0 series lead

Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli scored while Andrei Vasilevskiy was strong in net once again, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Vasilevskiy finished with 31 saves after being named one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy presented annually to the league’s top goaltender. That came two days after he made 37 stops in a 2-1 victory in Game 1, including 15 saves in the opening period.

Killorn got the Lightning on the board 7:09 into the second period when he whipped a straightaway shot past Alex Nedeljkovic. The goaltender was shielded by teammate Jaccob Slavin tussling with Cirelli and didn’t appear to see the puck until it was past him in the net.

Cirelli added to Tampa Bay’s lead by taking Victor Hedman’s stretch pass and shaking free from Brady Skjei before converting a backhand to make it 2-0 at 8:06 of the third.

The Lightning didn’t generate much offense otherwise. They finished with just 15 shots, compared to 32 for the Hurricanes.

Still, just as they did in the first round against Florida, the reigning Stanley Cup champions have opened a best-of-seven series with a pair of road wins — this time against the Central Division champions. They host Game 3 on Thursday.

Andrei Svechnikov got Carolina on the board with 1:30 left, taking a feed from Jordan Staal from behind the net and finishing from the top of the crease. MARC-ANDRE FLEURY, 36, A FIRST-TIME VEZINA TROPHY FINALIST >> Goaltenders Marc-Andre Fleury, Philipp Grubauer and Vasilevskiy were announced as the three finalists for the 2020-21 Vezina Trophy. Fleury, 36 and playing in his 17th NHL season, is a first-time finalist for the league’s top netminder award. He was 2610-0 with six shutouts, a .928 save percentage and a 1.98 goals-against average for the Vegas Golden Knights in the regular season.