The Tampa Bay Lightning secured a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night, with Pontus Holmberg and Ilya Mikheyev each contributing a goal and an assist. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 13 saves in net, pushing his career wins total to 372 and tying him for 20th all-time in the NHL; he now only needs two more wins to match John Vanbiesbrouck for 19th place.
The Lightning also saw goals from Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel, continuing their successful streak after losing their season opener to the New York Rangers. For the Flyers, Tyson Foerster scored, while backup goaltender Dan Vladar made 32 saves. Philadelphia remains winless early in the season (0-2-2), their worst start since 2013-14, and has yet to score more than two goals in any game so far.
Point opened the scoring with a deflected shot off John Carlson at 16:05 of the first period. Holmberg quickly doubled the lead 17 seconds into the second period with a rush goal. Foerster brought the Flyers within one midway through the period with a shot that deflected off a Tampa defender. Mikheyev extended Tampa Bay’s lead with a wraparound goal in the final minutes, and Hagel sealed the win with an empty-net goal. Nikita Kucherov contributed two assists, bringing his career points total to 1,128 and moving past Mike Bossy and Joe Nieuwendyk into 67th place on the all-time list.
Philadelphia’s Denver Barkey returned after missing the first three games due to a lower-body injury. The Flyers will face the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, while the Lightning will host the Minnesota Wild on the same night.
Fan Take: This game highlights Vasilevskiy’s impressive pursuit of NHL history, adding excitement for fans watching one of the league’s elite goaltenders. It also signals that Tampa Bay might be settling into their season, while Philadelphia’s tough start suggests they’re still searching for consistency and offensive firepower early on.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
