NHL Notebook: Lightning Win; On to Seattle
The Tampa Bay Lightning picked up their third straight victory as they
defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-2 in St. Louis on Saturday night.
The
Lightning will continue their season-long, five-game road trip on Monday when they
travel to Seattle for a Martin Luther King Day matinee in Seattle against the
Kraken, as the Bolts look to snap Seattle’s eight-game winning streak.
The
Lightning are 3-0-0 all-time against the Kraken including a win in their only
trip to Seattle last season. The Lightning previously defeated the Kraken at
home this season by a score of 6-2 on Dec. 13.
In St. Louis
Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point knotted the score at 1-1, connecting on a one-timer
from the slot at 12:22 of the first period. Point scored his 2nd goal of the
game, tapping in a backdoor pass on the power play to give the Bolts a 2-1 lead
at 16:43 of the first period.
Nick Perbix
tallied his 4th goal of the season, taking a slap shot from the point that
bounced off the glove of Blues goaltender, Jordan Binnington and up over his
head and into the net. The goal came at 12:44 of the second frame.
Alex Killorn
regained the 2-goal lead for the Bolts at 18:22 of the second period. The goal
was his 14th of the season and his 29th point.
Tampa Bay
outshot St. Louis 30-25, including a 13-11 advantage in the second period. The
Lightning are 16-9-0 when outshooting their opponent this season. Lightning
goaltender, Andrei Vasilevskiy won his 19th game of the season as he stopped 23
of the 25 shots he faced.
Game Notes: The comeback victory was the Bolts’
14th of the season which leads the NHL. Tyler Pitlick put St. Louis on the
board first, scoring on a breakaway at 2:39 of the first period. Steven Stamkos
registered his 30th assist of the season and 48th point.
LIGHTNING REASSIGN BALCERS TO SYRACUSE
The Lightning have assigned forward Rudolfs Balcers to the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League for conditioning today, vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced.
Balcers, 5-foot-11, 182 pounds, has appeared in 17 NHL games this season with the Lightning and Florida Panthers, recording three goals and five points. He has played in three games with Tampa Bay after being claimed off waivers by the Lightning on November 12. Balcers played in 14 games with the Panthers prior to joining the Bolts, recording two goals and four points.
The Riga, Latvia native has played in 170 career NHL games with Tampa Bay, Florida, the San Jose Sharks and Ottawa Senators. He has amassed 28 goals and 62 points.
