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Game 8 Recap: Vasilevskiy Carries the Bolts to Victory

October 19, 2017, 9:36 PM ET [12 Comments]
John Gove
Calgary Flames Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


Oh, thank goodness for great goaltending!

The Tampa Bay Lightning rode the hot hand of their netminder, Andrei Vasilevskiy, to come out of Columbus with a 2-0 victory over the Blue Jackets on Thursday night.


Period One

For a large portion of the first period, it was all about the "feel it out game" for both the Lightning and the Blue Jackets. Both teams respected the quality of their opponent and eased into the contest.

Once both sides were comfortable, the tempo began to pick up and both sides started to let the shots fire away. Sergei Bobrovsky and Andrei Vasilevskiy both made some pretty spectacular saves which kept the game scoreless into the final minutes of the period.

Finally, with 2:12 left in the period, Mikhail Sergachev put the Lightning on top with his first NHL career goal. Both Nikita Kucherov and Vladislav Namestnikov recorded their fifth assist on the goal.




Although the Lightning finished the first twenty minutes of the contest with only a 1-0 lead, they entered the locker room as the superior team. The Blue Jackets surely had their chances but the Bolts were able to spend most of the period in the offensive zone which gave them the momentum heading into the intermission.

Period Two

A good portion of the second period was spent the same way a large amount of the first period was spent, without a goal. Like period number one, that trend was once again broken by a Sergachev goal, giving him two on the night, two in his career, and the Lightning a two-goal lead. The assists on the goal belonged to Kucherov, his second of the game, and Steven Stamkos.




The young defenseman is making Tampa Bay's decision on whether they are going to keep him up with the Lightning or send him back to junior a lot easier with his recent play.

The tides of the game started to change as the final minutes of the period arrived and the Blue Jackets began to gain momentum. However, Vasilevskiy's stellar play in net kept Columbus off the board stopping 28 shots in the first 20 minutes.

Period Three

In the final period of play, it was all Vasilevskiy. He pretty much stood on his head, stopping a massive amount of shots, 43 to be exact, and securing the shutout.

Of course, the rest of the Lightning team did what they needed to do to secure the victory. However, if it wasn't for their netminder, they most likely would have walked out of Columbus as the losers. I mean, the Blue Jackets did record almost double the amount of shots the Bolts did. Good thing goals are what matters.

Anyways, a win is a win and Tampa Bay continues to impress the hockey world with a 6-1-1 record.

Up Next

Tampa Bay will now head back home after their three-game road trip to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
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