TAMPA - A physical third line built around Pontus Holmberg and Ilya Mikheyev carried the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday at Benchmark International Arena, the team’s second straight victory to open the home schedule.
Holmberg scored the game-winning goal 17 seconds into the second period and added an assist on Mikheyev’s third-period goal, while Mikheyev finished with a goal and an assist. Tampa Bay outshot Philadelphia 36-14 and killed all three Flyers power plays, holding Philadelphia to just three shots with the man advantage.
“Chalk that up as the best line on the ice, and that’s a tough assignment,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said of the Holmberg-Mikheyev-Zemgus Girgensons trio. “They just know one way. They have an extreme will, they all can skate, they all get around the ice, they all can control the puck, control the play, and you’re happy when they make plays like they did.”
Brayden Point opened the scoring with 3:55 left in the first period, redirecting a point shot from defenseman John Carlson past Flyers goalie Dan Vladar for his first goal of the season. Cooper credited Point’s compete level as much as the finish. “What I love about him is he’s winning his battles, he’s skating,” Cooper said. Point called the Holmberg line a force, adding: “They’re excellent at checking, and you can see what they can do in the offensive zone. They’ve got a lot of speed, a lot of size, and it seems like they have the puck a lot.”
Holmberg’s goal made it 2-0 before Tyson Foerster cut the deficit to 2-1 at 7:22 of the second. The Lightning answered in the third when Holmberg intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, deked past Flyers defenseman David Jiricek and fed Mikheyev, who wrapped the puck around the net and scored at the left post. “It was just a simple play, good forecheck in the neutral zone,” Mikheyev said. “Sometimes when you work hard, you get some results.” He added: “We just try to play simple and just try to play both ways, and it’s step by step for us.” Brandon Hagel sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final seconds. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 13 saves for his second consecutive win, and the Lightning went 0-for-3 on the power play.
Monday’s game also produced three franchise milestones. Ryan McDonagh skated in his 400th game as a Lightning, becoming the 23rd player and seventh defenseman in franchise history to reach the mark. Nikita Kucherov’s secondary assist on the opening goal was the 1,127th of his career, passing Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Bossy for 15th all-time among right wingers. Carlson’s assist on Point’s goal was his 500th career even-strength point, making him the second American defenseman - behind Phil Housley’s 610 - and the 16th defenseman all-time to reach that milestone. Kucherov finished with two points, tying Mikheyev and Holmberg as the team’s co-leaders in scoring.
Tampa Bay concludes its first homestand of the season Thursday with a 7 p.m. game against the Minnesota Wild at Benchmark International Arena.