Jake Guentzel scored a tiebreaking power-play goal late in the third period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning opened a four-game Western road trip with a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday afternoon.
Guentzel scored when Vancouver goaltender Kevin Lankinen (28 saves) deflected a shot that bounced up into the Lightning winger. It then hit Vancouver’s Noah Juulsen and bounced in for Guentzel’s 12th tally.
It was originally waved off as a hand pass, but a quick review confirmed the go-ahead goal. Brayden Point sealed it with an empty-net goal to give Tampa Bay its 11th win in the past 13 games (11-2-0) against Vancouver.
Point had two goals and two assists, including his 300th career helper, while Nikita Kucherov was back after being out two games and totaled a goal and two assists. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 shots.
Forward Anthony Cirelli was checked hard into the boards by Juulsen in the first period and missed the remainder of the game.
In the second game of their six-game homestand, the Canucks got tallies from Quinn Hughes and Kiefer Sherwood but fell to 1-1-1 in their past three.
Donning its black throwback jerseys, Vancouver had the game’s first major advantage when the Lightning’s Brandon Hagel went off for four minutes, bloodying the ice with a double-minor, high-sticking penalty delivered to Hughes’ nose.
However, the visitors shut down the extended power play and allowed just one shot on Vasilevskiy.
Hughes returned to the ice to cheers from the crowd with seven minutes left in the period, wearing a full-face shield and pushing the play for Vancouver before making a late impact.
With 3:52 left and Kucherov chasing him after a Canucks faceoff win in the offensive zone, Hughes flipped in a backhander from the left circle for his seventh goal.
Shortly after Vasilevskiy denied Max Sasson’s bid for his first NHL goal on a breakaway in the second, Kucherov whipped in his 13th marker at 4:40 from the right circle to tie it.
Point netted on a power play, the 99th of his career and team-leading 17th goal overall, less than two minutes later for the first Tampa Bay lead. The Lightning outshot the home side 18-5 in the middle frame.
Sherwood produced the first shot of the third for either club, shoving one past Vasilevskiy from in tight at 4:52 for his eighth goal.
–Field Level Media