For the second-straight game, the Tampa Bay Lightning failed to score a goal as Jordan Binnington recorded a 30-save shutout to the lead the St. Louis Blues to a 5-0 victory at Enterprise Center.
The Bolts have now dropped three consecutive contests in regulation and will look to get things back on track Thursday night in Chicago with a rematch against the Blackhawks, who defeated Tampa Bay 5-3 last Thursday at AMALIE Arena.
The Lightning came out of the gate with some jump, getting in on the forecheck over the first 10 minutes of the period and forcing the Blues to turn the puck over several times in their own zone. But after failing to convert on those opportunities, defensive breakdowns started to creep back into Tampa Bay’s game.
Jonas Johansson was sharp on the first Grade-A scoring chance for St. Louis, making a huge save on Jakub Vrana. But after surrendering another quality look at the net, the Lightning fell behind 1-0 with Colton Parayko firing a shot to the far post for his second goal of the season with 8:51 remaining in the opening frame.
Once they had the lead, the Blues defensive game started to take form. And when Tampa Bay was able to get quality looks, Binnington was there to shut the door.
The Lightning recorded a 15-8 shot advantage in the second period and were the better team for the majority of that middle frame. But as we’ve seen at different times throughout this season, Tampa Bay conceded back-to-back goals to St. Louis in the span of just 19 seconds.
Getting caught in a line change, the Bolts allowed Jordan Kyrou to get behind the defense before he skated in all alone on Johansson and beat him with a move to the backhand, making it a 2-0 game with 3:43 left in the second.
Immediately after, Torey Krug found Vrana with a pass across the offensive zone before he fired a one-timer past Johansson to give St. Louis a 3-0 lead heading to the locker room for the second intermission.
The Lightning were only able to fire seven shots on goal in the third period, surrendering an empty-net goal to Kaspari Kapanen at the 16:02 mark before Kyrou added a second tally with under a minute to play.
Jonas Johansson made 24 saves on 28 shots against in the defeat. Tampa Bay fell to 6-6-4 on the season with a road record of 2-4-2.
Bolts by the Numbers
- The Lightning were shut out in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2015-16 season (Oct. 24 at CHI, 1-0; Oct. 27 at STL, 2-0).
- Tampa Bay has failed to score a goal for the last 122:10 of game time.
- The Lightning recorded zero penalty minutes for just the fifth time in franchise history andfor the first time ever in a road game.
- Brandon Hagel, Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos led the Bolts with four shots on goal each.
Bolts Quotes
Jon Cooper: “People are going to look and say we've been shut out the last couple games. The problem is it's not our offense. We're giving up gifts. We're having good stretches in the gameand it's been the story this year is just giving up those easy ones. Then guys are getting discouraged and then they're fighting it a bit and so that hurts kind of the mojo of your team. We've just got to stop making those gaffes. I know guys aren't meaning to do it, but they're happening.”
Victor Hedman: “One thing I know is that we can bounce back. Never in my mind do I have any doubt in that. We've just got to continue to work on this. We're 16 games in and still in the mix, so we've just got to keep working.”
Anthony Cirelli: “It's just going out there and just focus on the things that we talk about daily in video meetings and on the ice in practice. In the end, I think we know what we need to do and we've just got to go out there and do it. At this point, everyone's got to step up, each and everyguy, and just go out there and do it. We've been told. Obviously very frustrating, but [it's] a little adversity. We've just got to build through it and looking at the positives and working on that.”
Victor Hedman: “This is where it really tests your mental strength. We haven't gone through this a lot lately and some guys probably haven't gone through it. It's just how you respond to this. We've just got to make sure that the guys who have been here a long time lead the way.”
Jon Cooper: “We just have to fight through it. You go through situations like this in a season and you've just got to get through it. The teams that have the mental makeup, they'll get through stuff like this.”
Krenner’s Three Stars
1. Jordan Binnington
2. Jordan Kyrou
3. Colton Parayko
Lightning Look Ahead
Thursday, November 16 at Chicago Blackhawks, 8 p.m. ET, United Center
Saturday, November 18 vs. Edmonton Oilers, 4 p.m. ET, AMALIE Arena
Monday, November 20 vs. Boston Bruins, 7 p.m. ET, AMALIE Arena
