TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and the 38th of his career in the Tampa Bay Lightning's 3-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.
Nikita Kucherov, Erik Cernak and Brandon Hagel scored to help Tampa Bay win its seventh consecutive game. The streak is the Lightning's longest since a 10-game run Jan. 29 to Feb. 17, 2020. Tampa Bay is 8-0-1 in the past nine games.
Dustin Wolf made 20 saves for Calgary. The Flames were shut out for the third time this season.
Kucherov opened the scoring on a power play with 45 seconds left in the first period. His attempted pass through the slot deflected off the skate of Calgary defenceman MacKenzie Weegar.
Cernak made it 2-0 at 3:51 of the third period, and Hagel added an empty-net goal with 2:50 left.
Takeaways
Flames: LW Blake Coleman, who won Stanley Cups with Tampa Bay in 2020 and 2021, appeared in his 600th career game. … Nazem Kadri’s seven-game scoring streak came to an end.
Lightning: C Anthony Cirelli tied a career high with 45 points. … Vasilevskiy improved 11-0-1 in his past 12 starts.
Key moment
The Flames were on a power play in the opening minutes of the second period down by a goal when Jonathan Huberdeau had a rebound chance that Andrei Vasilevskiy stretched out to his left to deny.
Key stat
Tampa Bay won its 20th consecutive game when leading after two periods.
Up next
Both teams are in action Saturday night. Calgary is at Florida, and Tampa Bay is at Washington.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Erik Erlendsson, The Associated Press
