Teh St. Louis Blues capitalized on a late-game opportunity Friday night, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in a shootout at Enterprise Center. Despite the loss, Tampa Bay remains atop the eastern Conference standings and was seeking to tie a franchise record with their seventh consecutive win. The tightly contested matchup saw scoring from Jake Neighbours and Nick Bjugstad for St. Louis, while Nikita Kucherov and Oliver Bjorkstrand answered for the Lightning.
The St. Louis Blues edged out the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in a thrilling shootout Friday night, leaving Tampa Bay just one win shy of tying the franchise’s record for a winning streak.
Tampa Bay forward Gemel Smith skated for 14 minutes and 23 seconds, recording three hits, losing his only faceoff, and committing one turnover. Smith finished the night with a neutral plus-minus rating.
Smith had tallied points in each of the previous four games, but saw his scoring streak come to an end in this contest.
The Blues jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from Jake Neighbours and Nick Bjugstad. The Lightning battled back in the second, starting with a power-play goal from Nikita Kucherov. Just 62 seconds later, Oliver Bjorkstrand tied the game at 2-2 while Tampa Bay was still on the man advantage.
Jordan Kyrou was the lone skater to score in the shootout, securing the win for St. Louis.
The Lightning currently lead the Eastern Conference with 62 points through 46 games, while the Blues sit at 12th in the East with 46 points in 48 games.
