In Uniondale Friday night, Victor Hedman scored the only marker of the game in the skills competition to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 1-0 win over the New York Islanders.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves to get the win.
“We played good defensively, and they didn’t have a lot in the first 10, 15 minutes,” Vasilevskiy said. “It helps a lot.”
Victor Hedman was credited with goal in skills competition – file photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman
It was his fourth shutout of the year.
“He’s a rock back there,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said.
The Bolts improved to 38-11-2.
“That was a fun game to play,” Hedman said. “Two great goaltenders, two good teams. It wasn’t like it was lacking Grade A chances; both guys made some unbelievable saves.
“It was a tough game, physical. We felt better than obviously the last time we played these guys (a 5-1 loss at Barclays Center on Jan. 13).”
The Isles dropped to 29-15-6.
“Obviously, we had a chance in overtime,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “We had some chances 2-on-1, they had some chances 2-on-1. Their goaltender made a couple of good saves, they made a couple of good plays on the power play. Give them a lot of credit. Your best penalty-killer is your goaltender, and both of them were outstanding tonight.”
[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Islanders highlights]
Thomas Greiss made 41 saves for his second shutout in three games and third of the season.
“Both goaltenders were outstanding, they made some huge saves,” Trotz said. “There was some physicality in the game, there was some excitement in terms of good defensive plays and good offensive plays … a little bit of scrambly play, which happens, and the intensity on both sides.”
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