After a dreadful loss to the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this week, the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated a solid Los Angeles Kings team by a score of 3-0. The Lightning got an early lead in the first period and held on for the rest of the way through.
Tampa Bay Back on Track in the Win Column
The Lightning came out strong with an early goal from Brandon Hagel. The star winger carried the puck quickly through the neutral zone and dangled around Kings’ defender Jordan Spence before burying a shot off the rush. Furthermore, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy earned his 21st career assist on the goal.
The Lightning were up one after the first, but Kings’ youngster Quinten Byfield responded with a goal on the breakaway. However, the play went under video review, and the goal was overturned for offsides. Therefore, the Bolts remained up a goal heading into the third period, outshooting Los Angeles 26-17.
The Kings controlled the pace of play for most of the third period to tie the game. However, Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay defense held down the fort long enough until the Lightning struck again. Hagel delivered his 22nd goal of the season and second of the night 15:37 into the third period for the insurance goal.
Hagel followed up a rebound and crashed the net off an attempt from Nikita Kucherov to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead. Then, Anthony Cirelli put the icing on the cake with a shorthanded empty-net goal, and Hagel picked up his third point of the night with the assist.
The Lightning are back in action on Saturday (Feb. 1) against the New York Islanders. Puck drop for that game is at 7 p.m. On the other hand, the Kings go on the road to face Mikko Rantanen and the Carolina Hurricanes in their next game for a 7 p.m. puck drop on Saturday.
3 Stars of the Game
- Andrei Vasilevskiy (1.000 SV%, 0.00 GAA)
- Brandon Hagel (2 goals, 1 assist)
- David Rittich (.938 SV%, 2.06 GAA)
