Lightning power through to first road win of the season

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
October 22, 2016

From start to end, the Lightning saved their best performance of the young season for the first game away from home.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots for his second victory in as many starts as Tampa Bay knocked off Ottawa and former head coach Guy Boucher 4-1 at Canadian Tire Centre.

Steven Stamkos, Vladislav Namestnikov, Alex Killorn and Valtteri Filppula all scored for the Lightning, which improved to 4-1 on the season.

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Coming off a relatively flat performance against Colorado in the previous game, Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper – who replaced Boucher as Lightning head coach in 2013 – shuffled the line combinations around, moving wingers around.

And though Tampa Bay failed to score in the first period for the fifth consecutive game, the newly formed combinations helped control the game and limit the Senators to just four shots on goal in the opening period.

“The first 20 minutes definitely was dominant and we built on that,’’ Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said.

That carried over to the second period where Namestnikov scored his first goal of the season, getting the second deflection off an Anton Stralman shot for a power play goal 2:36 in to the second period.

Namestnikov was key on the Lightning’s second goal, also a power play marker, when he retrieved a puck behind the net and quickly fed a cross-crease pass to Stamkos at the opposite post for an easy one-timer past Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson at 6:45 of the period for a 2-0 lead.

Though Chris Neil would cut the lead to 2-1 late in the second as the Senators pushed back with 16 shots in the middle frame, the Lightning seized control of the game in the third period. Killorn regained the two-goal lead on a quick transition play with Killorn taking a Filppula feed from the left circle and sending a pass attempt toward Brayden Point only to have the puck deflect in off of Ottawa defenseman Dion Phaneuf at 8:02 of the third period.

Filppula ended any thought of a Senators’ comeback when he converted a breakaway with 1:58 left in the game for his third goal of the season.

The newly formed line with Killorn playing alongside Filppula and Point accounted for the only two even-strength goals for Tampa Bay.

“The opening day lineup, it’s not going to stay like that forever,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “You’re testing guys out in different situations. You’re trying to get guys going, trying to keep guys hot. I don’t think it was so much our line shuffling. It was how we played the game. We had a good game tonight. We had a good game plan coming in, the boys executed it and when they do that, I don’t think it really matter who’s playing with who.’’

Said Killorn: “I think tonight was definitely our most complete game. I think as the season progresses, you get more into these games and we’re starting to build chemistry with the lines.’’

Postgame notes: The Lightning scored the opening goal for the first time on the season. … Tampa Bay’s power play, which finished 28th overall last season, registered two or more goals for the second time in five games to open the season. … The Lightning has five power play goals in five games. …. D Anton Stralman recorded his 150th career assist. … Tampa Bay remains without a first-period goal through five games. … Namestnikov recorded his ninth career multi-point game. … Tampa Bay held Ottawa D Erik Karlsson without a point for the first time on the season.

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