Mishkin's Extra Shift: Lightning 4, Blues 2

This was a solid win for the Lightning against a quality opponent. Although they yielded two power play goals to the Blues, they controlled five-on-five action for most of the night. When the teams were at even strength, the Lightning outshot, out-chanced, and outscored the Blues. They defended hard throughout the night, blocking 22 shot attempts. And in the third period, they tallied key goals at crucial times. Twice, they broke a tie and they added an insurance goal shortly after they had taken the lead for good.

In the first period, the Lightning decisively carried play. They owned most of the possession and created numerous scoring chances. They grabbed a 1-0 lead when, off the rush, Ross Colton managed to get the puck from the right circle to the back post. Ondrej Palat swooped in and swept it into an open side of the St. Louis net. But that was all the Lightning would get in the opening period. Ville Husso, starting in place of Jordan Binnington (who went on the Covid Protocol list earlier in the day), came up with a handful of terrific saves to keep his team within a goal. Those included close-range stops on Taylor Raddysh, Corey Perry, Zach Bogosian, and Alex Barre-Boulet. (On the Barre-Boulet chances, Husso made three point-blank saves in succession).
The Lightning started the second period well, generating looks from Colton - on a two-on-one rush with Raddysh - and Gabriel Fortier. But when the Blues received their first power play opportunity of the night, they found their rhythm. St. Louis owns the second-best power play percentage in the league and in this game, the Blues received a strong performance from their PP unit of Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich, Brandon Saad, Ivan Barbashev, and Scott Perunovich. On that opening power play chance, the Blues didn't score, but that unit of five maintained possession in the offensive zone for most of the two minutes. Andrei Vasilevskiy made two saves during the kill, including a tough one on Buchnevich. Shortly after getting through that PK, the Lightning found themselves shorthanded again. And on this chance, the Blues converted. The other PP unit for St. Louis was on the ice for the majority of this man advantage and yielded a shorthanded chance to Alex Killorn. But Husso made the save and then the Blues got their Thomas unit back out on the ice. Moments after Thomas won an offensive face-off, he took a pass from Perunovich and wired a pass to the back post, where Saad redirected it in at 14:07.
Not long after Saad's goal, the Lightning went on their second power play. Husso made one save during the kill and it was good one - he stopped a Perry chance from the slot. Then, just as Jake Walman left the penalty box, he received a long outlet and skated in on a breakaway. But Vasilevksiy stopped the shot to keep the game tied. His second period work wasn't done. Before the frame ended, he denied Ryan O'Reilly's close-range attempt.
The Lightning regrouped in the third. After allowing 15 shots in the middle period, they held the Blues to just five SOG in the final 20 minutes. The Lightning blocked 12 shots in the period, including six when the Blues pulled the goalie for an extra attacker. At the other end, the Lightning netted three goals on 10 shots. The first of those came during their third and final power play opportunity. On the earlier two Lightning power plays, the Blues had used - with success - a very aggressive penalty kill. But on this opportunity, the Lightning used quick puck movement to break down the Blues' aggressive kill. Following an offensive zone face-off win, Victor Hedman hurried the puck to Killorn at the left circle. Killorn one-timed a soft pass to Anthony Cirelli in the slot. Cirelli also one-timed the puck, but there was nothing soft about this shot. He zipped it past Husso's glove, giving the Lightning a 2-1 lead at 4:26. The Blues tied it with another power play goal - the Thomas unit zipped the puck around the offensive zone before Buchnevich shot the puck off Erik Cernak's stick and into the top of the net. But the Lightning answered back within the next minute. Raddysh kept the puck in the offensive zone after the Blues attempted to clear it. As his linemates went to the bench for a change, he stayed out and maintained possession. Eventually, the puck came to a fresh Pat Maroon, who worked it to Hedman at the left point. Hedman had room to skate in from the point. He blasted a shot from the high slot past Husso's glove, giving the Lightning the lead back for good. His goal came 53 seconds after the Blues had tied it. Just over two minutes later, Hedman struck again. From deep in the St. Louis end, Marco Scandella tried to maneuver the puck cross ice, but he put it right on Hedman's stick. Hedman had moved to the slot, where he intercepted the puck. Almost like a shootout attempt, he skated close to Husso, then roofed a forehand over Husso's stick. The Blues got one last power play with 4:02 remaining. Just past the halfway point of the man advantage, they pulled Husso for a sixth attacker and they kept him on the bench through the end of the game. The Lightning, who had allowed four sixth-attacker goals during the month of November, successfully navigated their way through the final 2:56 successfully.
Prior to this home contest, the Lightning had played two straight on the road. Next, they head out on their longest road trip of the season to date. So it was important for them to take care of business at Amalie Arena in this isolated home game during the eight-game stretch.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
1. Victor Hedman - Lightning. Two goals and assist.
2. Anthony Cirelli - Lightning. Goal.
3. Taylor Raddysh - Lightning.