A pair of key plays by Tampa Bay Lightning rookies combined with a rough-and-tumble, tight-checking defensive performance allowed Tampa Bay to extend its winning streak to a season-best four games on Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues.
Lightning fans at AMALIE Arena were treated to yet another fast start on Thursday with the help of rookie Conor Geekie.
Linemate Brandon Hagel gained the offensive zone before dropping a pass to the 20-year-old forward on the left side of the blueline, and Geekie zipped a pass to a flying Anthony Cirelli in the slot. Cirelli deked to his backhand before burying his 13th goal of the year for a 1-0 lead five minutes, 14 seconds into the game.
Tampa Bay built a 2-0 lead on a goal by defenseman Nick Perbix in the second period, and rookie Gage Goncalves’ first NHL goal provided insurance to hand the Lightning a 3-1 win.
The Lightning have held opponents to two goals or less in five of their seven games this month while posting a 6-1-0 record in December.
"Guys are sacrificing their bodies, being in the right spots, trying to protect the middle, Vasy has been there to make the saves when we need them,” Cirelli said. “It just feels good to string a couple wins together here.”
After Thursday’s 3-1 win over St. Louis, the Tampa Bay Lightning are officially off to their most potent offensive start in franchise history—through 30 games the Lightning have scored 120 goals, the most through the first 30 games of any season in the team’s 32-year history.
It was Tampa Bay’s defense, though, that stole the show on Thursday as Tampa Bay held the Blues to a single goal and improved to 18-10-2 this season. The Lightning protected their own net while restricting St. Louis from reaching dangerous areas on the attack.
"I thought they really puck possessed,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said of the Blues. “They were big, they were heavy. We stayed to the inside. The big thing for us was we got the lead, and at times it can be a tough league to come back in. We kind of defended our way to a win.”
Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves for his 15th win of the season.
Cirelli’s goal came just over five minutes into the game. Perbix made it 2-0 for the home team 3:42 into period two when he jumped into the rush after Brayden Point had gained the offensive blueline. Nikita Kucherov passed to Perbix in the high slot, and the latter beat Binnington with a blocker-side shot.
St. Louis’ Pavel Buchnevich slashed the Tampa Bay lead in half with 7:45 to play in the middle period, sneaking to the backdoor spot and burying a shot at the right post. One minute, 18 seconds later, Tampa Bay had a response from another young player.
Goncalves accepted a Nikita Kucherov drop pass atop the left faceoff circle, reaching the faceoff dot before zipping a shot into the top right corner of the net for his first career goal in his 20th NHL game.
The rookie didn’t know he had scored until moments after the puck hit the back of the net.
"As soon as I shot it, I kind of got peeled off to the side,” a smiling Goncalves said of the play postgame. “So I had no idea it went in until I locked eyes with (Ryan) McDonagh, and he was like, 'It's in! It's in!' So yeah, it kind of caught me off guard.”
Kucherov finished Thursday with two assists to lead all Lightning players and now has points in his last nine games played. Kucherov’s 49 points (14-35–49) in 28 games lead the Lightning this season and place him third in the NHL scoring race after Thursday’s games.
Goncalves said Kucherov’s assist added a nice bonus to his first career goal.
"Growing up watching him and seeing the stuff he does in the league every single year with how skilled he is and how much he takes pride in his craft, yeah, it's definitely, I'm happy to have it from him."
Goncalves, who has played on a line with forwards Mitchell Chaffee and Nick Paul for the past several weeks, has played a career-high 18 NHL games this season. His coach has liked what the young forward contributes to the Lightning, saying Goncalves has an NHL skill set.
“I think he's progressively getting better. He's getting a better feel for everything, and he definitely has an offensive skill set that he can keep up with this league. I think everybody else knew the puck went in, I don't think he did,” Cooper said. “Took a little delayed reaction before he knew that it got in, but it was good for him. I'm surprised he took this long. He's had some really good chances and they just haven't gone in for him, and hopefully this kind of breaks the dam."
Another young player took center stage on Thursday night, as 23-year-old defenseman Emil Lilleberg finished with a pair of hits and fought veteran forward Brayden Schenn at the end of the second period.
Lilleberg has seen more ice time in recent games due to a flurry of defensive injuries for Tampa Bay. He and his defensive partner of late, Perbix, played a crucial role on Thursday.
“Lilly takes on a really big boy in Schenn there and gets the bench up, gets the guys going. So give credit to him for standing in there and fighting a guy like that. And then Perby with the goal, it’s huge,” Cirelli said. “Jumping up in the play, depth scoring is huge, and I think over the past win streak here a lot of guys have stepped up.”
Tampa Bay will look to extend its winning streak to five games on Sunday when they host the Florida Panthers for the first time this season. The teams will also play in Sunrise, Florida on Monday before the NHL’s holiday break.
Overall, the Lightning like where their game is headed as 2024 nears its end, particularly in their own zone.
"I think that's why our wins have ticked up a bit as opposed to the beginning of the year,” Cooper said, “because those (goals against) numbers were threes and fours. And when you defend like we've been doing, usually good things can happen and usually wins will follow."
Ben’s Three Stars:
- Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (31 saves, W)
- Gage Goncalves, TBL (First NHL goal)
- Nikita Kucherov, TBL (Two assists)
