TAMPA, Fla. — Some uncharacteristic play on the penalty kill put the Lightning in a bit of rut for the first 20 minutes of Thursday’s game against the Blackhawks at Amalie Arena.
In the opening period, Chicago capitalized on both power-play opportunities.
Nevertheless, Andrei Vasilevskiy came up big in net, notching his 10th consecutive win, 3-2 against the Blackhawks. Vasilevskiy’s winning streak ties for the longest of his career, joining Feb. 9, 2019-March 5, 2019, and Dec. 23, 2019-Jan. 17, 2020.
In the first period, Chicago scored early with the help of Mattias Janmark’s power-play goal. The forward tapped in the puck from the left side off a shot from Dominik Kubalik.
The Lightning (21-6-2) struggled to find their offense until late in the first when Alex Killorn scored with 6:45 remaining in the period. The forward drove the puck around Kevin Lankinen (18 saves) behind the net and used Chicago’s Duncan Keith to rebound the puck off his stick and in-between Lankinen’s goalie pads.
Less than four minutes later, Yanni Gourde gave the Lightning their first lead of the game off a hard drive to the net with a feed from Vasilevskiy to Mikhail Sergachev at center ice. Gourde’s goal put Tampa Bay up 2-1.
But the lead didn’t last long as Dylan Strome answered back in the final 1:15 to tie it at 2 as the Chicago forward grabbed the rebound off the right goal post and slid the puck right past Vasilevskiy’s skate.
In addition to an assist — his second of the year — the Lightning goaltender registered 19 saves against the Blackhawks (14-12-5).
After a scoreless second period, Lightning rookie Ross Colton broke the tie 5:32 into the third with his second goal of the season — he scored in his NHL debut last month — after he attacked the crease, with assists from Mathieu Joseph and Pat Maroon.
