Lightning 4, Flyers 1: Tampa Bay pulls away late, Philadelphia still winless
Brayden Point and Pontus Holmberg gave Tampa Bay an early cushion, and Ilya Mikheyev and Brandon Hagel closed it out as the Flyers fell to 0-2-2.
The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Monday night at Benchmark International Arena, collecting a second straight win after a season-opening 5-1 loss to the Rangers. Philadelphia is still looking for its first victory at 0-2-2, according to NHL.com.
How it unfolded
Brayden Point opened the scoring at 16:05 of the first period, redirecting a shot from John Carlson from below the hash marks. Raw Charge reported that the sequence began with an offensive-zone faceoff win and that Nikita Kucherov kept the puck alive before Carlson's shot.
Pontus Holmberg made it 2-0 just 17 seconds into the second period, shooting from the right circle on a rush and beating Dan Vladar high on the glove side. Philadelphia answered at 7:22 when Tyson Foerster's shot deflected off the stick of Lightning defenseman Charle-Edouard D'Astous and past Andrei Vasilevskiy, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
That was as close as the Flyers got. Ilya Mikheyev restored the two-goal margin at 17:00 of the third with a backhand wraparound, with Holmberg credited on the play. Brandon Hagel sealed the result with an empty-net goal at 19:53. Holmberg and Mikheyev each finished with a goal and an assist, and Kucherov had two assists, per NHL.com.
The goaltending
Vasilevskiy made 13 saves on 14 shots for the win, the 372nd game of his NHL career by NHL.com's count, which tied him with Andy Moog for 20th on the all-time list. Vladar stopped 32 shots in defeat. Raw Charge noted a Lightning goal from Max Crozier in the third period was waved off because officials ruled Vladar had not re-established his position after a collision with Hagel.
What it means
For Tampa Bay, the night was a recovery from a poor opener. Coach Jon Cooper said, "What I really like is that our next two have been pretty darn good." Mikheyev's goal was his first for the club since he signed as a free agent on July 1.
For Philadelphia, the start is its worst in years. NHL.com notes four straight losses to open a season is something the Flyers last did in 2014-15, when they also began 0-2-2. They had lost 3-2 in overtime to Carolina on Saturday. The team was also without defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, a late scratch who had left that game in the third period with an undisclosed injury. Vladar said after the game that the team has to be better, starting with himself and Joseph Woll.
The Flyers still need their first win; Tampa Bay, at 2-1-0, has its footing back.