The Tampa Bay Lightning closed out their homestand against the St. Louis Blues in their final game before the holiday break on Monday night. It didn’t take long for the Lightning to get on the board, as Pontus Holmberg redirected Darren Raddysh’s shot past Jordan Bennington just 21 seconds into the game. Declan Carlile had a great chance to make it 2-0, after his teammates had some tic-tac-toe passes in front of the net, Carlile got the puck with a seemingly wide-open net in front of him. Unfortunately for the Lightning, Binnington was able to somehow get a pad on it, launching the puck out of play. Gage Goncalves drew the first penalty of the night at 7:15 in the first period, when Logan Mailloux slashed him in front of the St. Louis net. With just four seconds remaining on the power play, Raddysh launched a one-timer from the blue line that beat Binnington for Raddysh’s eighth goal of the campaign. Moments after the Lightning made it 2-0, Zemgus Girgensons was called for interference on Pius Suter which gave St. Louis a chance to get momentum on their side. The Lightning would successfully kill off the penalty. Tampa Bay got another power play opportunity with 6:18 remaining in the first period after Holmberg was hauled down by Robert Thomas. After St. Louis killed off the penalty without allowing a shot, Tyler Tucker tripped up Jake Guentzel, handing the Lightning another man advantage. As Nick Paul and Yanni Gourde collided in the offensive zone, the Blues launched a two-on-one, forcing Andrei Vasilevskiy to make a short-handed save as the penalty expired. Just over a minute into the second period, Vasilevskiy denied Pavel Buchnevich with a sprawling toe save to keep the Blues off of the score sheet. A minute later, Dominic James missed a wide-open net as his shot went just wide of the goal while Binnington had no clue where the puck was and would’ve had no chance of making a save. Blues defenseman Justin Faulk continued his hot streak, getting St. Louis on the board with 13:17 remaining in the second period with a one-timer from the blue line. Faulk’s goal, his 10th of the season, tied him with Neighbours for the team lead. It didn’t take the Lightning long to respond. Raddysh took a long-range shot from the blue line which was deflected by Anthony Cirelli in front of the net. The puck bounced past Binnington, and the Lightning made it 3-1. The goal was Cirelli’s tenth of the season, but also marked Raddysh’s third point of the night, and 100th of his career. Carlile’s bad luck continued as he hit the post with just over five minutes remaining in the second frame. Eventually, the Lightning would carry their lead into the third period. Nick Paul drove to the net after forcing a turnover which forced Mailloux to grab onto him, giving the Lightning another power play opportunity just over five minutes into the third period. Just 31 seconds into the third period, Oliver Bjorkstrand made it 4-1 with a one-timer from inside of the faceoff circle. That goal marked another milestone, as it was Bjorkstrand’s 400th career NHL point. Just seconds after the goal, Jack Finley was sent to the penalty box for holding Mathieu Joseph. Although the Blues applied some pressure, the Lightning were able to kill off the penalty fairly easily. The Blues got a breakaway as Philip Broberg burst through the Lightning defense with just over eight minutes remaining. As usual though, Vasilevskiy was sharp and made a save. When all was said and done, the Lightning walked out with a 4-1 win. Undoubtedly, Raddysh, who finished the night with three points, and Vasilevskiy, who saved 23 of 24 shots, were the biggest difference-makers for Tampa Bay. The power play also performed at a high level, as both Bjorkstrand and Raddysh’s goals came with the man-advantage meaning that the Lightning finished with a 50% efficiency on the night. With the win, the Lightning moved into second place in the Atlantic Division, behind only the Detroit Red Wings, with a game in-hand. Although the holiday break is upon us, the standings will likely be shaken up a bit tomorrow though, as both Detroit and the Montreal Canadiens have one more game before their mandatory three days off. As for the Lightning, they’re going to have the next four days off, with their next game coming on the road. They’ll visit the Florida Panthers on Saturday with vengeance on the mind, as the last time the two teams met, the Panthers won 5-2 and the Lightning lost Brandon Hagel due to injury. The Lightning can’t afford to put all of their energy into that one though, as they’ll have a key game against Montreal the following night back in Tampa.
