Lightning Beat Blackhawks 4-1 as Ilya Mikheyev Scores Twice in Tampa

Ilya Mikheyev scored twice against his former club and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Thursday night in Tampa. Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh also scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy started in goal for the Lightning and reached a mark that only three active goalies have reached.

Fast start in Tampa

Hedman opened the scoring on a power play at 4:12 of the first period. He finished a give and go play with Anthony Cirelli to put Tampa Bay ahead early. The goal came on the power play and gave the home team control of the game from the opening period.

Mikheyev scored his first goal late in the first period to extend the lead. Tampa Bay took that advantage into the break and kept Chicago from settling into the game. The Blackhawks spent much of the night chasing the play after falling behind in the first period.

Mikheyev added his second goal in the third period. The goal made the result clear late in the game and completed a strong night against the team he played for before joining Tampa Bay. McDonagh also scored for the Lightning as Tampa Bay built its lead across the game.

Milestone night for Vasilevskiy

Vasilevskiy played his 600th start for Tampa Bay. He is one of only three active goalies to reach that mark. Sergei Bobrovsky leads the active group at 802 starts, and Connor Hellebuyck is at 618 starts. Vasilevskiy held Chicago scoreless for almost the full game.

Roman Kantserov scored for Chicago with 49 seconds left to spoil the shutout. The late goal was the only one Chicago scored in the game. It extended the point streak for Kantserov to seven games, a bright note for the Blackhawks on an otherwise hard night in Florida.

Tampa Bay gave Chicago few clear chances to get back into the game. The Lightning protected their lead through the second period and added to it in the third. By the time Kantserov scored, less than a minute remained and the outcome was settled.

Home record and road trouble

The win kept Tampa Bay perfect at home this season. The Lightning are 8-0-0 at home, a franchise record home winning start. Tampa Bay is 10-3-2 overall. The team has turned its home games into a clear strength in the opening part of the season, winning every game in Tampa so far.

Chicago continued to struggle away from home. The Blackhawks are 0-7-1 on the road this season and 4-12-1 overall. Chicago was swept in back to back games in Florida on this trip, losing at both stops on the trip without a road win to show for the week.

The two teams now move on to Saturday night games on the road. Chicago plays at Carolina on Saturday night. Tampa Bay plays at Minnesota on Saturday night to open a four game trip. The Lightning will try to carry their home form onto the road, while Chicago will try again to find its first road win of the season.