The Tampa Bay Lightning (29-8-2) knocked off the Toronto Maple Leafs (23-16-2) 2-0 on Tuesday night for their second consecutive shutout to begin a five game road trip.
After an extended pregame ceremony in Toronto to honor former Maple Leafs goalie Johnny Bowers, who passed away last week, this game started fast for both teams. A fast pace, evenly matched first period saw the game head into the second period scoreless.
The Lightning were able to take control in the second period, thanks in part to superb goaltending by Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made some tremendous saves as the period wore on. His teammates rewarded him for his effort, when Cedric Paquette scored at the twelve minute mark to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. Minutes later Alex Killorn took a shot that on the surface appeared to be a save by Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen. However, as play continued after the shot, the video room called for a stoppage in play as they saw that Killorn’s shots had gone in at the 16:54 mark and the Lightning would take a commanding 2-0 lead.
In the third period, Andrei Vasilevskiy stood tall once again as he came up with twelve more saves to finish with 29 saves on the night. Frederick Andersen went 34-for-36 in net for Toronto in the losing effort.
The Lightning road trip continues in Canada on Thursday night when they head to Montreal to battle the Canadiens. Faceoff is set for 7:30 and can be heard with pregame beginning at 7 PM on News Radio 970 WFLA.
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
(NONE)
2ND PERIOD
1. TBL - Paquette - (Kunitz) – 12:00
2. TBL – Killorn – (Sergachev, Gourde) – 16:54
3RD PERIOD
(NONE)
PENALTY SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
1. TOR – Martin – (Interference) – 12:54
2. TBL – Hedman – (Hooking) – 16:37
3. TOR – Polak – (Cross Checking, Roughing) – 19:53
4. TBL – Conacher – (Slashing) – 19:53
2ND PERIOD
1. TOR - Komarov - (Slashing) – 13:08
3RD PERIOD
1. TBL – Paquette – (Hooking) – 11:49