In Tampa, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves to help the Lightning win their ninth straight game, 4-0, over the visiting Arizona Coyotes.
“It’s been a while,” Vasilevskiy said. “I thought we played very well, all 60 minutes. We had some games in the past when I could’ve had shutouts, but we gave up a late goal. Tonight I thought we played perfectly and the whole team deserves this.”
Nikita Kucherov led the offense with two strikes for the Bolts.
“[The shutout] means a lot for our team and [Vasilevskiy],” Kucherov said. “He’s been unbelievable. Regardless of what people are going to say about his game, I think he’s the best player in the League, and he proved it tonight. He’s been proving it all season.”
Alex Killorn and Mikhail Sergachev scored for the Lighting in the first period.
“We put ourselves in a hole and we had too many guys with their B-game,” Coyotes forward Derek Stepan said. “This is one of the best teams in the League. If you’re not sharp and executing, they are going to make your night really difficult.”
[WATCH: All Coyotes vs. Lightning highlights]
Adin Hill made 30 saves in the loss.
“I honestly didn’t think we were bad, I think we were fine, until that three minutes, two crucial plays,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said after his team lost by at least four goals for the first time this season. “We lose our coverage in front, it’s not a good goal. Then we had three guys caught, they had a 4-on-2, it’s a bad goal. So, it’s 2-0.
“Then we started kind of unraveling. We had some guys, I didn’t like their energy level. I don’t know why.”
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