@jayRecher

The Big Swede just took over.

Victor Hedman scored a pair of goals in the 3rd period & Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Thursday night at Amalie Arena.

The 3rd period didn't start out all that well for the Lightning's star defenseman as he was whistled for a high sticking penalty that eventually led to a Pavel Buchnevich power play goal that tied the game at two apiece.

But Hedman was not deterred as he rifled a slap shot past Blues netminder Ville Husso just 53 seconds later to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead.

2:20 after his first goal, Hedman found himself all alone in front and he flipped one high over the blocker of Husso to extend the Lightning lead to two.

Hedman also added an assist on Anthony Cirelli's goal for a three-point night.

Ondrej Palat opened up the scoring at the 7:16 of the first, crashing the net after a little give-and-go action between Steven Stamkos & Ross Colton, backhanding a loose puck past Husso to put Tampa Bay up 1-0.

Brandon Saad scored the lone goal in the 2nd, converting on the power play at 14:07 to tie the game at one.

Cirelli's goal came on the power play early in the 3rd, just four seconds after St. Louis defenseman Miko Nikkola was whistled for high sticking. After the Lightning won the faceoff, the puck moved quickly from Hedman at the point, to Alex Killorn down low, to Cirelli just inside the left circle, and he one-timed a shot past Husso to give Tampa Bay the lead for a short time until Buchnevich's tally knotted it up just under three minutes later.

Husso made 31 saves in defeat for the Blues.

Way To Go Bogo! : Lightning defenseman Zach Bogosian was recognized during the first TV timeout for playing in his 700th NHL game tonight.

Wait A Minute : Tonight's game was delayed by a few minutes because Blues defenseman Justin Faulk was placed in the NHL's COVID-19 protocols. He was replaced in the lineup by defenseman Jake Walman.

*****

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

Tampa Bay - Palat - (Colton, Stamkos) - 7:16

2nd Period

St. Louis - PPG - Saad - (Thomas, Perunovich) - 14:07

3rd Period

Tampa Bay - PPG - Cirelli - (Killorn, Hedman) - 4:26
St. Louis - PPG - Buchnevich - (Perunovich, Thomas) - 7:16
Tampa Bay - Hedman - (Maroon) - 8:09
Tampa Bay - Hedman - (Unassisted) - 10:29

*****

PENALTY SUMMARY

1st Period

St. Louis - Mikkola - (High Sticking) - 17:46

2nd Period

Tampa Bay - Killorn - (Hooking) - 8:40
Tampa Bay - Barre-Boulet - (Tripping) - 12:32
St. Louis - Walman - (Cross Checking) - 15:50

3rd Period

St. Louis - Mikkola - (High Sticking) - 4:21
Tampa Bay - Hedman - (High Sticking) - 6:03
Tampa Bay - Hedman - (Tripping) - 15:58

*****

What's Next For The Bolts : The Lightning are back in action on Saturday night as they travel to Boston to take on the Bruins. Puck drop is slated for 7:00pm with the pregame show starting at 6:30pm on NewsRadio WFLA & Lightning PowerPlay.

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