Vasilevskiy makes 36 saves, Lightning defeat Flyers

PHILADELPHIA -- Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 5-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.
Vladislav Namestnikov scored two goals in the third period, and Brayden Point, Yanni Gourde and Ryan Callahan scored in the second for Tampa Bay (34-12-3), which won its third straight game. Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov each had two assists.

Travis Konecny scored for Philadelphia (24-17-8), which lost for the first time in five games and second in 10. Michal Neuvirth made 17 saves.

Point put the Lightning ahead 1-0 25 seconds into the second with his 20th goal.
"[Tyler Johnson] threw it to me, kind of just kicked it off my skate, took it to my backhand," Point said. "Don't know how it went in. Just jammed it and I think it went under [Neuvirth's] pad."
The goal gave the Lightning a lift after a first period when they had four shots on goal and didn't get their first until 7:05.
"He's got 20 (goals) but it's the timing of his goals," coach Jon Cooper said of Point. "Not only just that goal, he's got three overtime winners. Timely goals. When we need something to happen, we have a lot of guys that can step up for us. He seems to do it in a regular basis."
Cooper called Point, who was named Wednesday to the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Game, "more often than not the straw that stirs the drink" for Tampa Bay after the morning skate.
"It's a joy to see him out there playing the way he is and the amount of goals -- that was his 20th. He's a huge contributor right now," Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman said. "Great to see. He's got a chance to be in the All-Star Game. It's great for him. He's one of the guys you really wish the best because he puts in the work and he's a great teammate and a good person and you're really happy for him."
Gourde made it 2-0 at 9:56 of the second, and then Callahan scored shorthanded at 17:29 to make it 3-0. Callahan tipped the puck past Flyers forward Jakub Voracek at the Lightning blue line and carried it into the Philadelphia zone. He deked around defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, dragged it around Neuvirth, and scored his second goal of the season, first since Oct. 24.

"That was the one that took the wind out of their sails," Cooper said. "It's a 2-0 game, you're late in the second period. It's 2-1 or 3-0, and we got the break. That was a heck of an effort."
The Flyers said they felt when the Lightning pushed in the second period, they couldn't keep up.
"We just didn't handle it," forward Wayne Simmonds said. "They did a good job. They adjusted, we didn't. We didn't handle it. We have our systems in place. We just didn't do a good job."
Konecny scored on the power play at 13:18 of the third period to make it 3-1. He has four goals and two assists during a five-game point streak.
Namestnikov scored at 14:05 to make it 4-1. It was his 17th of the season and 50th in the NHL. Stamkos had an assist for his 300th in the NHL.
Namestnikov scored again at 17:11 when Stamkos found him open for a backdoor tap-in that made it 5-1.

Despite the loss, the Flyers said they feel good about how they've been playing. Since their 10-game losing streak (0-5-5) ended Dec. 4, they're 16-6-1 and have climbed into the Stanley Cup Playoff race.
"We're coming off a stretch where we've played very well," coach Dave Hakstol said. "The guys have pushed hard. And we've been able to make up a little bit of ground here. We're in the fight."

Goal of the game

Point's goal 25 seconds into the second period.

Save of the game

Vasilevskiy's glove save on Valtteri Filppula's tip of a Radko Gudas shot at 15:32 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Callahan's goal at 17:29 of the second period.

They said it

"Most important is we got the two points. Philadelphia was hot in the last 10 games. Was nice to finish off the road trip with a win and nice to go into (the All-Star) break like this." -- Lightning forward Vladislav Namestnikov
"It's going to be a dogfight now coming back. Come back off the break, the schedule doesn't lighten. … We just have to find a way to get points and keep trying to find ways to get a little better." -- Flyers coach Dave Hakstol

Need to know

Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr played his 300th NHL game. … The Flyers recalled goaltender Alex Lyon from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League before the game to back up Neuvirth. Goaltender Brian Elliot didn't play because of a lower-body injury.

What's next

Lightning: At the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, SUN, NHL.TV)
Flyers: At the Washington Capitals on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)