Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy crafted his first shutout of the season, Brandon Hagel produced three points and the Lightning blanked the visiting Colorado Avalanche 5-0 on Thursday night.

In the first meeting between the clubs since last June’s Stanley Cup Final, Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots to extend his franchise-record shutout total to 29. Hagel had two goals and an assist to lead the Lightning offensive output as they broke a two-game skid (0-1-1).

Brayden Point had a goal and an assist, Corey Perry and Mikhail Sergachev each netted a goal, Alex Killorn handed out three assists and Anthony Cirelli added two as the Lightning moved to 21-4-2 at home and 9-2-0 against the Western Conference’s Central Division. Pat Maroon skated in his 700th game.

The Avalanche, who won their third Stanley Cup by beating the Lightning in six games, have dropped two straight overall (0-1-1) to start their three-game road trip and were shut out for the fourth time. Netminder Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves.

Colorado’s Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Cale Makar was scratched (concussion protocol) after being hit in the head by Pittsburgh’s Jeff Carter in Tuesday night’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Penguins.

In the first of two matchups over a six-day span, Tampa Bay’s third-ranked power play, which went 2-for-3, made the visitors pay when Perry grabbed a pass in front of Georgiev and deked him for his 10th goal at 15:15.

At 2:21 of the second period, Vasilevskiy stood solid and made his biggest save with a great glove grab, keeping the Avalanche off the board by denying Matt Nieto’s clean breakaway attempt.

After a big pad save by Vasilevskiy sparked a two-on-two rush, Cirelli worked his way around Colorado defensemen Samuel Girard and Devon Toews. He then fed Hagel across the slot for his 20th into a wide-open net at 8:32.

In a busy play around Georgiev with the Lightning on the man advantage, Point managed to get his stick on the puck and get it in for his 32nd goal less than two minutes later for a 3-0 lead.

Hagel’s check of Mikko Rantanen led to a break with Killorn, who dropped a pass back for Hagel’s second marker at 18:07 and a commanding 4-0 lead.
At 5:44 of the third, Sergachev whistled home his seventh goal for the five-goal advantage.

–Field Level Media