This was a disappointing loss to end a disappointing road trip. For the third straight game, the Lightning scored first to grab a lead, surrendered that lead, and lost in regulation.
In this contest, the Lightning didn’t make as many mistakes as they had on Sunday in Winnipeg. But they suffered three costly breakdowns that led to St. Louis goals. On the first, Andrei Vasilevskiy couldn’t control a rebound, and Oskar Sundqvist gained netfront position to even the score at one. On the second, the Lightning lost coverage on Alexey Torochenko in front of the net. On the third, they surrendered an odd-man rush that turned into a two-on-zero rush. Jordan Kyrou finished a pass from Brayden Schenn.
The biggest goal of the game was the Toropchenko tally. It came late in the second period and gave the Blues a 2-1 lead. St. Louis then played a strong, structured third period and limited Tampa Bay’s scoring chances.
For much of the first two periods, however, the Lightning dictated play. They created a number of opportunities to score through the first 40 minutes but only managed to get one puck past Jordan Binnington. Binnington made a handful of key stops. The Lightning also couldn’t quite finish on some of their better looks.
The Lightning didn’t play a bad game in St. Louis. But they didn’t quite play well enough. As a result, they head home looking to snap their three-game losing streak on Thursday against Philadelphia.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
- Ryan Suter — Blues.
- Jordan Binnington — Blues.
- Brayden Schenn — Blues. Assist.
