In Tampa, Brayden Point hit for a double in the first period, including one power play goal to help the Lightning take a 3-1 first period lead over the St Louis Blues on Friday.
“We’re starting to gel a little bit more, I think,” Point said. “Plays are becoming cleaner, we’re breaking out cleaner, pucks are hitting tape and guys are feeling more confident. The execution of the game plan has been much better.”
Alex Killorn also scored in the opening period for a 3-0 lead.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves in the Tampa win.
The Lightning improved to 12-7-1.
“I think both teams were into it right away,” Point said. “It was nice to get a couple of goals early and get a jump on the game. I thought it was a fun game and a good atmosphere, especially in the first period.”
St Louis’ Pavel Buchnevich scored off the power play in the fist period to cut the deficit to 3-1.
“You’ve got to have urgency right away in the game,” St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. “If you don’t, you can get behind. Every individual, it’s their job to be ready to go with urgency, doing the right things and making hard plays.”
Jordan Kyrou scored at 6:24 of the middle frame to make it a 3-2 score.
The Blues dropped to 10-10-0.
“A couple bad plays to begin the game, and we get behind,” Blues defenseman Justin Faulk said. “I thought we played a good second and third period. Tonight was a case of getting behind the 8-ball early and trying to fight your way back.”
Tampa replied just 18 seconds later with a strike from Brandon Hagel for a 4-2 lead.
“I think we were a little hesitant and didn’t really trust our game like we needed to,” St. Louis captain Ryan O’Reilly said. “It was frustrating. It got away from us quick. They’re a good team, they made plays and we were chasing.”
Nicholas Paul scored into an empty net for the 5-2 final with under four minutes left in the third.
Jordan Binnington made 22 saves in the St Louis loss.
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