Andrei Vasilevskiy became the fastest goaltender to notch his 300th career win, captain Victor Hedman reached a franchise milestone and the host Tampa Bay Lightning stalled the streaking Winnipeg Jets with a 4-1 victory on Thursday night.
Vasilevskiy stopped 23 shots to secure the landmark victory in his 490th career game, breaking the 61-year-old record held by Hall of Famer Jacques Plante (528 games). The 30-year-old Vasilevskiy became the 40th netminder to eclipse 300 career wins.
Meanwhile, Hedman posted his 583rd career assist, breaking a tie with Steven Stamkos for the second-most in franchise history. Hedman, 33, is six assists away from passing Martin St. Louis for the team record.
Jake Guentzel scored twice, while Anthony Cirelli netted his 100th career goal for Tampa Bay. Brandon Hagel also scored as the Lightning ended a four-game winless skid (0-3-1) and snapped Winnipeg’s seven-game win streak.
Tampa Bay killed all five power plays by the Jets, whose NHL-best unit entered with 19 goals in 45 chances (42.2 percent).
Owning the NHL’s best record ever to start a season at 15-1-0, Winnipeg got a goal from Adam Lowry, while Eric Comrie made 25 saves.
After his club put the first five shots on goal, Tampa Bay’s Nick Paul entered the offensive zone on a rush, found Guentzel trailing him and slipped a between-the-legs pass. Guentzel then deposited his sixth goal at 7:24 for a 1-0 lead.
Winnipeg found its game after the slow start and fired seven on goal during the first period, but Vasilevskiy kept the visitors off the board through 20 minutes.
In the second period, Hagel made it 2-0 by scoring a beauty off a pass from Darren Raddysh and roofing his eighth tally. Cirelli added to the lead 57 seconds later on his third score, with Hedman and Nikita Kucherov notching assists on the club’s first power-play goal at home.
Lowry finally gave Winnipeg some momentum when he hit the net for the third time at 6:54 in the second period.
Vasilevskiy denied 11 shots in the third, and the penalty-kill unit thwarted all three power plays in the frame. Guentzel’s tally into an empty net with 21 seconds left completed the scoring.
Top Lightning center Brayden Point missed his third consecutive game with a lower-body injury.
–Field Level Media
