By Jake Ricker
The Tampa Bay Lightning looked to extend their point streak to nine games and finish off an excellent month of March against the Islanders. Here is how they stacked up in last night's matchup.
Duclair-Point-Kucherov
Hagel-Cirelli-Stamkos
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Vasilevskiy.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the Lightning's 4-1 win over the Islanders.
Andrei Vasilevskiy
It's no secret that Andrei Vasilevskiy's numbers are not where we are used to seeing them due to his back surgery early this year. However, over the month of March, Vasilevskiy held a record of 7-1, a SV% of .909, and a GAA of 2.55. He has been excellent, to say the least, and tonight was no different. While Vasilevskiy wasn't super busy early, he stopped 27 of 28 shots. The only goal comming on a deflection right in front of the net on the very first shot.
Vasilevskiy has been a key part in each Stanley Cup run the Lightning have made, and Vasilevskiy is playing his best Hockey heading into the final month of the season. If he continues to play like he is now, no one is going to want to face the Big Cat in the first round of the playoffs.
First Period
The Lightning dominated the first period of this game. After an unfortunate bounce put them down 1-0 on the Islander's first shot, the Lightning began to skate circles around them. The Bolts finished the period with 21 shots on goal, and a lot of them were quality chances. The Lightning would only be able to get two in the back of the net, but after 20 minutes had all of the momentum and were excellent in creating chances while limiting the Islanders to just 6 shots on goal.
This was a near-perfect period and a testament to why the Lightning have been so good over the last nine games. Anytime you can create that much offense and limit the other team, it's a recipe for success. The only reason this game wasn't 4-1 after the first was because of Varlamov, who made some great stops. Anthony Cirelli
When Nikita Kucherov has 126 points on the season things get overlooked. Enter Anthony Cirelli, who is quietly having one of the best seasons of his career. With 2 goals and 1 assist last night, Cirelli is now at 40 points on the season, which is just 4 points off from tying his career-best. He is also now at 18 goals which is just one away from his career best.
Cirelli definitely hasn't had as much of a great year defensively as he normaly has, sitting at an even plus/minus this year, which is tied for the lowest of his 7 seasons. But continues to help create offense and is a huge part of the penalty kill.
Final Thoughts
The Lightning played a fantastic first period and locked things down even when the Islanders began to push back. The Lightning have now had a point in 9 straight games and continue to stay hot right before the playoffs. They have kept up their offense, limited odd-man rushes, and played overall better defense. There is still some work to be done, but the Lightning are in a much better sport than they were a month ago.
Next game - Monday, April 1st vs. the Detroit RedWings inside Amalie Arena @ 7 PM
Three Stars
Media's three-stars
1 Vasielvskiy (1 GA)
2. Cirelli (2G,1A)
3. Kucherov (2A)
Our three-stars
1. Vasielvskiy (1 GA)
2. Cirelli (2G,1A)
3. Stamkos (1G)
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