The Tampa Bay Lightning (58-14-4) fell to the St. Louis Blues (40-27-8) 4-3 on Saturday night in St. Louis.
The Blues scored three times in a 1:15 stretch of the first period to take a commanding early lead over the Lightning, with goals from Robert Thomas, Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko. However, as has become the custom for Tampa Bay this season, no lead seems too large for the Lightning, and they began to rally. After Alex Killorn scored a shorthanded goal early in the second period, Brayden Point scored at the 7:24 mark to pull the Lightning within 3-2. The Blues got a huge goal from Brayden Schenn at the 14:24 mark of the period to take a 4-2 lead.
In the third period Steven Stamkos scored to again pull the Lightning within one, and it appeared Stamkos tied the game later in the third but his goal was called back due to a successful off-sides challenge from the Blues. Jordan Binnington made the saves he needed to (all told 39 saves in 42 shots) to secure the 4-3 win for St. Louis - on the other side, Andrei Vasilevskiy went 22-for-26 in net to take the loss.
The Lightning return home for the final two home games of the regular season this week. The last regular season homestand begins with a showdown against the Boston Bruins on Monday night - puck drop is scheduled for 7:30, with pregame coverage beginning an hour beforehand on News Radio WFLA.