Make that back-to-back wins for the Lightning, as they took down the Metro-leading New Jersey Devils 4-0 on Saturday night.
Here are three things we saw from the win:
Clean Sheet
Against the Winnipeg Jets, Andrei Vasilevskiy became the fastest goaltender to 300 wins in NHL history (490 games). Before this game against New Jersey, Vasilevskiy was honored pregame with a ceremony that included a gold stick, a portrait, and a tribute video that included congratulations for many former Lightning skaters and goaltenders.
Vasilevskiy then went out and stopped all 29 of New Jersey's shots to record his second shot out of the season and 38th of his illustrious career. While the defense in front of him did a good job keeping New Jersey to the outside for most of the game, Vasilevskiy still had to come in clutch a few times at 5-on-5, and certainly through the four times the Lightning were on the penalty kill.
While he didn’t try for the empty net goal like last game, Vasilevskiy had more than enough to celebrate as he continues his bounce-back season following last year’s struggles.
The Little Things
Heading into the season, the Lightning prioritize doing the little things well to get the significant results they sought. While much of what they were focusing on was for the defensive zone, there was also an emphasis on scoring 5-on-5 goals. On their first goal of the game, a newcomer exemplified precisely what the Lightning were looking for.
As Nick Paul let his shot go, Gage Goncalves planted himself in front of the net to shield Jacob Markstrom‘s eyes. Paul’s shot found its way through, giving the Lightning an early lead.
Goncalves didn’t even receive a point on this play. But at the same time, the play doesn’t happen without him. It speaks to the Lightning's trust in this young forward that he’s playing over Cam Atkinson in the top nine.
While it remains to be seen if he sticks in the lineup once Brayden Point comes back, it’s these type of plays that will get him noticed by the coaching staff and give him continuous opportunities.
Blanked
One of the biggest reasons the Bolts were able to hold the Devils off the score sheet in this one came in their penalty killing. In what has been an uncharacteristic weak point for the Lightning so far this season, the penalty kill followed a 5/5 performance against the Winnipeg Jets with a perfect 4/4 against the Devils, holding the leagues fourth best power play at bay one game after shutting down the league’s best power play.
They did much of their penalty killing without some of their key penalty killers as well. Victor Hedman was in the box for one of the penalty kills, and Brandon Hegel was another victim of a couple questionable penalty calls. Still, the Lightning got contributions from some of their under-appreciated players (Girgensons, Glendening, Cernak) to hold New Jersey off the square sheet.
As we saw last season, the Bolts certainly don’t want to have their special teams dictate how they play as a whole this season. But getting their penalty kill back to where it’s supposed to be will be a big boost going forward.
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