Jake Guentzel netted even-strength and power-play goals, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy tied for the league lead with his sixth shutout, and the Tampa Bay Lightning gained redemption by walloping the visiting Utah Hockey Club 8-0 on Thursday night.
Guentzel broke a tie with Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl with his NHL-leading 16th power-play tally in a four-goal second period, while Nikita Kucherov hit the net and dished three assists, giving him seven points over two matches.
In dealing Utah its sixth blanking, Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for his 40th career shutout as Tampa Bay (42-25-5, 89 points) got payback for Saturday’s 6-4 loss in Salt Lake City.
Brayden Point potted his 300th career goal and had an assist, Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice, and Victor Hedman added a goal and two assists. Gage Goncalves also tallied.
Ryan McDonagh posted two assists in his 1,000th game, and Yanni Gourde added two of his own.
With a third straight home victory, the Lightning boosted their home mark to 26-8-2 — 15-2-1 since Jan. 1 — and 20-12-0 against the Western Conference.
Utah (32-29-11, 75 points) saw goalie Karel Vejmelka surrender four goals on 11 shots through 29:14 before being replaced by Jaxson Stauber, who stopped six shots.
As it did in Tuesday’s 6-1 home win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the home club excelled offensively again with accuracy on two of the opening four shots.
Guentzel found a rebound at the 90-second mark and tied Point for the team lead in goals. Hedman then flipped a wrister that Vejmelka tipped with his right-handed glove but could not bring in at 4:20.
The Lightning poured it on in the second, starting with Goncalves’ chip of a long shot by Emil Lilleberg at 5:05. Kucherov made it 4-0 when he took a pass from Point on a rush and lifted a backhander past Vejmelka at 9:14 for goal No. 32.
Guentzel took the team lead from Point with his 36th marker before Bjorkstrand netted for the second time since joining the Lightning for a 6-0 edge.
Point and Bjorkstrand tallied in the third to match the club’s season high of eight goals.
–Field Level Media
