St. Louis Blues at Tampa Bay Lightning

· National Hockey League

St. Louis Blues

15-15-1

Final
1 - 6

Tampa Bay Lightning

15-13-5

NHL points leader Kucherov has 2 goals, Vasilevskiy makes 28 saves as Lightning beat Blues 6-1

St. Louis Blues vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Full Highlights

Michael Eyssimont, Tyler Motte, Haydn Fleury and Nicholas Paul also scored for the Lightning, who have won five of 12. Steven Stamkos had three assists to move past Theo Fleury (1,088) into 67th place on the career points list with 1,090.

“When we get in trouble sometimes is we try to make the extra play and it results in a turnover,” said Paul, who had two assists. “I think a big message for us before the game was just simplify the game. Work hard, win battles, and pucks to the net.”

Blues goalie Jordan Binnington was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals on 23 shots. He had a 5-0 shutout against Tampa Bay in the previous meeting between the teams on Nov. 14.

St. Louis interim coach Drew Bannister lost in his first road game following a pair of home victories after taking over when Craig Berube was fired on Dec. 12.

“We've just got to do a better job when we're defending,” Bannister said.

The Blues got a power-play goal from Justin Faulk with 4:05 left. He ended a 34-game goal drought.

Kucherov scored twice 1:50 apart late in the first and early in the second to make it 4-0. The right wing has 54 points, including 22 goals.

Vasilevskiy stopped Kevin Hayes on a short-handed breakaway midway through the first. The Blues have eight short-handed goals.

“We didn't need to bring any risk into the game and I thought we just gave St. Louis way too many chances to get back into the game, and Vasy fortunately kicked them out,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said.

St. Louis’ NHL-worst power play went 1 for 3 and has converted three chances in 30 tries over the last 11 games. Two goals have come in the last two games.

Eyssimont stopped a 19-game goal drought 2:23 into the game after Binnington misplayed a dump-in behind the net.

Fleury got his first goal in 67 games during the second. He also had an assist and finished plus-four.

Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev took a shot by Colton Parayko off the back of his left foot in the first and did not return. His foot was in a boot after the game.

UP NEXT

Blues: Play at Florida on Thursday night.

Lightning: Will host Vegas on Thursday night.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Scoring Summary

Goal	1st Period 2:23	Michael Eyssimont Goal (5) Batted, assists: Tanner Jeannot (6), Haydn Fleury (3)
Goal	1st Period 17:10	Tyler Motte Goal (2) Backhand, assists: Steven Stamkos (17), Conor Sheary (5)
Goal	1st Period 19:46	Nikita Kucherov Goal (21) Wrist Shot, assists: Brayden Point (21), Nicholas Paul (5)
Goal	2nd Period 1:36	Nikita Kucherov Goal (22) Wrist Shot, assists: Nick Perbix (7), Nicholas Paul (6)
Goal	2nd Period 12:13	Haydn Fleury Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Steven Stamkos (18), Brandon Hagel (18)
Goal	3rd Period 7:53	Nicholas Paul Goal (10) Backhand, assists: Steven Stamkos (19), Victor Hedman (24)
Goal	3rd Period 15:57	Justin Faulk Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Jake Neighbours (2), Kevin Hayes (8)

Statistics

STL		TB
14	Blocked Shots	19
22	Hits	14
4	Takeaways	12
29	Shots	33
1	Power Play Goals	1
3	Power Play Opportunities	3
33.3	Power Play Percentage	33.3
0	Short Handed Goals	0
0	Shootout Goals	0
17	Faceoffs Won	23
42.5	Faceoff Win Percent	57.5
3	Giveaways	16
5	Total Penalties	6
13	Penalty Minutes	23