Goalie Antti Raanta made 19 saves & the Arizona Coyotes scored twice in the second period, leading to their 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Monday Night. The Lightning, who played without captain Steven Stamkos, have lost 2 straight games & have scored once in each of those losses.
Through the first four minutes of the first period, neither team had a strong scoring chance, with Arizona putting the only two shots on net. But that changed after the first period entered the 15 minute mark. That's when Lightning Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev got his team their first shot on net for the game, breaking in from the point & putting a shot on goal that Coyotes Goalie Antti Raanta was able to push aside.
Just over a minute after that scoring chance by Sergachev, the Coyotes were first to go on the power play after Lightning Center Alex Killorn committed a double no-no when he gave the puck away & while trying to get the puck back was called for hooking. But during the two minute advantage, Arizona was unable to put a shot on Domingue & Tampa Bay spent a good portion of the penalty kill in their own offensive zone.
Although Arizona outshot Tampa Bay in the first period 12-7, the Lightning may have had the best scoring chance when Right Wing Nikita Kucherov came from behind the Coyotes net & snapped a shot on goal that Raanta, who was hugging the post, was able to glove & secure.
The second period started with the Lightning killing off a penalty taking late in the first period by Center Cedric Paquette. And even after successfully killing off another penalty, Tampa Bay went over five minutes before getting a shot on net. Meanwhile Domingue in the first five minutes of the second period faced four shots, the most dangerous being a shot by Arizona Left Wing Brendan Perlini. Perlini broke in from the right side & tried wristing a shot past Domingue but the Lightning Goalie pushed the shot aside harmlessly.
Tampa Bay eventually got their first shot on net by Defenseman Victor Hedman & got even a better quality scoring chance when Center Tyler Johnson skated hard to the net & lifted a shot that Raantaa stopped. But it was Arizona who took their zero off the scoreboard first when Defenseman Trevor Murphy came off the point & shot a blast past Domingue, giving the Coyotes a 1-0 lead.
The Coyotes goal seemed to wakeup the home team, at least temporarily, the Lightning picked up their skating & got quality scoring chances from both Hedman & Center J.T. Miller, but were unable to put the puck past Raanta. The Lightning did forced the visitors into taking their first penalty when Left Jordan Martinook took a penalty for slashing. But the Lightning were unable to convert that man advantage & before time expired on the penalty, Lightning Left Wing Chris Kunitz fell into Raanta & was called for goalie interference. But unlike the Lightning who struggled on their power play opportunity, the Coyotes were able to make good on theirs, when the Lightning were caught on a bad line change & Arizona Defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who was standing in between the face-offs, took a past from Right Wing Richard Panik & blasted a shot past Domingue, who lost his stick during a scramble in front of the net.
Trailing 2-0 to start the third period, Tampa Bay recorded the first shot on net in the period & were able to put three shots on net in just over the first two minutes, including a chance by Left Wing Ondrej Palat & Raanta made the save of his night, keeping the shutout intact. And less than 30 seconds after that save by Raanta, the Coyotes went on the power play after a tripping penalty on Johnson.
Tampa Bay was able to kill off that penalty but with just under 10 minutes left in the third period, the deficit became three goals after a goal by Perlini that was initially waived off by the referee because of goalie interference was overturned by replay, giving Arizona the 3-0 lead.
The Lightning went on the power play with over six minutes left in the game. And after failing on their first attempt, the Lightning were able to finally get the puck past Raanta when Kucherov scored his 38th goal of the year, when he one-timed a pass from Miller, beating Raanta & ending his shutout bid.
Arizona added an empty net goal by Center Clayton Keller with under 10 seconds left in the game, to quell any chance of a Lightning comeback.
Tampa Bay will hit the road on Thursday looking to end their two game losing streak when they take on the Bruins in Boston, in a battle between the Eastern Conference's top two teams. Coverage begins on 970 WFLA at 6:30 pm with the puck dropping at 7:00 pm.
SCORING SUMMARY:
1ST PERIOD:
NONE
2ND PERIOD:
1. ARI- Murphy 1st goal (Martinook, Cousins)- 10:45
2. ARI- PPG- Chychrun 3rd goal (Panik, Keller)- 17:22
3RD PERIOD:
1. ARI- Perlini 17th goal (Strome, Connauton)- 10:28
2. TBL- PPG- Kucherov 38th goal (Miller, Hedman)- 14:37
3. ARI- Keller 23rd goal (Empty Net) (Goligoski)- 19:52
PENALTY SUMMARY:
1ST PERIOD:
1. TBL- Killorn (Hooking)- 5:07
2. TBL- Paquette (Interference)- 19:44
2ND PERIOD:
1. ARI- Martinook (Slashing)- 14:28
2. TBL- Kunitz (Goalie Interference)- 16:12
3RD PERIOD:
1. TBL- Johnson (Tripping)- 2:17
2. ARI- Martinook (Slashing)- 13:53