Victor Hedman broke the deadlock to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 4-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.
Erik Cernak shot against the boards at the back of the net and Hedman, who was stationed at the mouth, easily slotted the puck past goaltender Petr Mrazek, who had moved forward to challenge Cernak’s shot.
The Bolts thus stopped a streak of three losses in a row and goalkeeper Jonas Johansson only had to make 13 saves to do so.
Connor Bedard was silenced after scoring two goals in each of his last two games, leading all NHL rookies with 13 points in 14 games.
After surviving with one man less on the ice, thanks in particular to a superb save by Mrazek at the expense of Anthony Cirelli, Chicago took control thanks to Lukas Reichel in the first period.
Brayden Point tied the game in the second period by cleverly deflecting Victor Hedman’s pass on the power play, then defenseman Mikhail Sergachev finally had a reason to celebrate his individual successes.
The former CH first-round pick, who has the third-worst differential on the circuit at -14, took advantage of the traffic for the puck to make its way to the back of the cage.
Sergachev also contributed to Brandon Hagel’s goal which completed the scoring.
Bad news for the Lightning however, Anthony Cirelli did not complete the meeting. He did not appear in the third period after being injured while blocking a shot.
