The St. Louis Blues (12-7-3) defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning (12-5-4) 4-3 in the shootout on Tuesday night in St. Louis.
The Lightning built a 3-0 lead in the first period thanks to an early goal from Anthony Cirelli, then goals five seconds apart from Corey Perry and Erik Cernak. That would be all the scoring the Blues would allow - they pulled within 3-2 with two second period goals, then Ivan Barbashev scored on the power play early in the third period to tie the game 3-3.
That would be the score throughout the rest of the third period and into overtime. After neither team could score in overtime, this game would head to the shootout. Ryan O'Reilly hit the only goal for St. Louis in the second round of the shootout, and that would be enough to lift the Blues to a 4-3 win.
Brian Elliott got the start in net for the Lightning, and saved 30 saves on 33 shots against. After a rough first period, Blues goalie Jordan Binnington turned this game around, finishing 30-for-33 in net as well in picking up the shootout win.
The Lightning and Blues will now play the second game of a home-and-home on Thursday night at Amalie Arena. Puck drop in Tampa is scheduled for 7:00 PM - you can hear the game, beginning with pregame coverage at 6:00 PM on News Radio WFLA.
PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES