The Tampa Bay Lightning continued their winning ways in Dallas Tuesday night as the Bolts beat the Stars 2-1 behind 17 saves from Andrei Vasilevskiy.
This was another record-breaking performance from Vasilevskiy as he recorded his 12th straight win, a new Lightning franchise record.
Vasilevskiy becomes the ninth goaltender in league history to record 12 consecutive wins and needs two more consecutive wins to tie the all-time league record of 14 straight wins. Patrick Lalime holds the record of 14 straight wins during the 1996-97 season.
Cooper continues to be amazed by Andrei Vasilevskiy and his play night after night. “He just continues to amaze, and I’m glad that he didn’t have to stand on his head tonight for this one because he’s had to do so a few times this year for us. I think the guys were digging in for him as well. He’s done this before, and I think rightfully he should be the guy who holds this record with the Tampa Bay Lightning.”
Steven Stamkos and Yanni Guarde scored the two Lightning goals in the second period, and that would be all the scoring the Bolts would need on this night as the defense did the rest.
The Lightning penalty kill was solid late in the game when it mattered most. The Lightning killed off a five-on-three power play for one minute and 29 seconds late in the third period and a six on five in the final two minutes to earn the win.
This was another game where the Lightning defense was outstanding. The Lightning allowed Dallas seven shots on goal through the first two periods and just one shot on goal in period 2.
Vasilevskiy appreciated the tremendous defensive effort by his teammates. “A great defensive effort, probably one of the best games we’ve ever played, and obviously one of the easiest games I’ve ever played. I’m just really proud of our team, just an unbelievable effort. They held the opponent to just seven shots through the first two periods. That was amazing. That’s never happened to me before.”
Vasilevskiy took the new Lightning record in stride. “Obviously, it’s great, it’s fun to win that many games in a row. I just tried to do my job. Just working hard every day and play my best game every night.
With the win, the Lightning improves to 24-6-2 on the season and will play in Dallas Thursday night before wrapping the three-game road trip in Raleigh on Saturday night.
