9
0
Sleepy Lightning ride Vasilevskiy’s hot streak to another win.
TB-2
DAL-0
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 28 shots he faced for his third straight shutout victory. He had work in this one because the Lightning, in my opinion, sleep walked through large portions of this game and gave away a lot of prime chances.
First Period
7:29 TB Palat (9), (Hedman, Stamkos)(PP)
Second Period
NO SCORING
Third Period
19:55 TB Gourde (6), (unassisted)(EN)
Vasilevskiy and Ondrej Palat were the game’s first and second stars.
That had to have been one of the more boring hockey games I’ve seen in a while. The Lightning got outshot 28-19 in the contest and there were times, frankly, I saw some fly-by activity in the corners on the forecheck. This was not the high energy version of the Lightning and they got away with it because Vasilevskiy’s on one of his hot streaks right now. It’s not sustainable, though, so I expect more possession next time out.
Cal Foote had 2 penalty minutes, 1 shot, and 2 blocked shots in 7:41. I wish he skated better. I like most everything else about his game, especially how crisp and hard his first pass out of the zone is, but he’s not getting ice time against a team with speedsters like Dallas when it’s a one goal game.
Ross Colton had 1 shot and 2 hits in 6:41. I liked how he played in this game. Thought he was decent on the puck in all three zones, which may not be the stuff of highlight reels but I imagine the coaches won’t mind what they saw from him tonight at all.
Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.
