Tampa Bay headed to St. Louis on their fourth win streak of six games or more. During their historic season, they have seemingly broken or challenged a plethora of NHL records. Having clinched the Presidents’ Trophy and home ice advantage in the bag, they really don’t have much to play for, but that hasn’t stopped them from continuing to win. Meanwhile, St. Louis is looking to close out the season as the third best team in the Central Division.
The last time the Lightning and the Blues met was in early February. The first meeting ended with only one goal, scored in overtime by the Blues, giving them a 1-0 victory in a hard-fought game. The Blues then went on to win seven more games, resulting in an 11-game win streak.
A disastrous start
The first period showed us an apathetic Tampa Bay team. A team that looked like they’ve already won the regular season and is looking ahead. Turnovers galore resulted in high-percentage chances for the Blues and they capitalized. The Blues drew first blood with not one but three goals in less than a minute and a half. The first goal came on the power play when Robert Thomas buried one against Andrei Vasilevskiy. Thirty-eight seconds later, Alexander Steen hit pay dirt making it 2-0. To finish off the terrible start for the Lightning, Vladimir Tarasenko scored another one, giving the Blues a 3-0 lead.
Bolts rally in the second
Attempting to put the awful opening period in the rear-view mirror, the Lightning struck first in the second. Anthony Cirelli set up Alex Killorn for a shorthanded goal only 27 seconds into the second period. The Lightning scored again when Ryan McDonagh found Brayden Point for a tip-in goal bringing the Lightning within one, Point’s 40th goal of the season.
While the Lightning were attempting to breathe new life into this game, the Blues had a different plan. Brayden Schenn scored on a filthy backhander, bringing the Blues’ lead back to two.
Who else hates offside reviews?
The third period saw a flurry of action, as both goaltenders really stood tall through the final 20 minutes of the game. Steven Stamkos scored his 39th of the year off of a beautiful wrist shot bringing the Lightning within one. Tampa really controlled the entire third period but could not finish by putting a puck in the net.
The heart-breaker came on a gorgeous power play goal by Stamkos that went to review and was determined to be offside. The would-be game-tying goal was negated by the puck exiting the zone by maybe a half an inch. After tying the game and then having the goal taken away, Tampa spent the last five minutes in all-out blitz mode. Eventually pulling Vasilevskiy for an extra attacker, the Lightning’s man-advantage created some really good chances, including a shot by Kucherov that went wide. Ultimately, it was too little, too late and Tampa Bay fell to the Blues for only their 14th regulation loss of the season.
Our Three Stars of the Game
1st Star: Brayden Schenn – One goal and one assist
2nd Star: Vladmir Tarasenko – One goal and one assist
3rd Star: Brayden Point – One goal
