Vasilevskiy makes 25 saves, Lightning shut out Stars to end 4-game skid

TAMPA -- Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves, and Anthony Cirelli scored twice for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 4-0 win against the Dallas Stars at Amalie Arena on Monday.

It was Vasilevskiy’s first shutout of the season in his fifth game; he missed the first 20 after having microdiscectomy surgery to address a lumbar disk herniation Sept. 28.

"This was the first game I really felt like myself," Vasilevskiy said. "Obviously I didn't have much to cheer about the last few games; it's been pretty hard for the first few games for me. Tonight, the whole team played great and we got a great result."

Nikita Kucherov extended his point streak to 10 games with a goal and an assist, and Victor Hedman played his 1,000th NHL game for the Lightning (11-10-5), who had lost four in a row, including 8-1 at Dallas on Saturday.

"It's a humbling game, it's a funny game; one night everything goes in, and the next night nothing goes in," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "Just because your name is Andrei Vasilevskiy, [it] doesn't mean you can take 207 days off and just step in and be Vezina-caliber again. He's got to get his feet wet too. Now you'll hopefully see the most consistent game that he wants to play."

Jake Oettinger made 19 saves for the Stars (14-6-3), who were 2-0-1 in their previous three.

"I think you beat a team 8-1, especially a championship team, you know they are going to respond," Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. "Their best players, to a man, were at a different level tonight. We knew that was going to happen."

Kucherov gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 7:47 of the first period when he took a pass from Mikhail Sergachev, then spun in the slot and ripped a shot past Oettinger.

Kucherov has 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) during his point streak, which is the longest active in the NHL.

Cirelli made it 2-0 at 18:21, knocking in a feed from Erik Cernak from close range.

"I thought we stuck to the game plan there, for the most part," Cirelli said. "We worked really hard. We tried to limit chances and get in lanes. … So many shots blocked tonight (24). It was nice to have a bounce-back game. There was a lot to like tonight."

Luke Glendening gave Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead at 3:05 of the third period on a breakaway after blocking a shot in the defensive zone.

"We created enough to be in that game," DeBoer said. "I even felt in the third at 2-0 we were right there until that third goal went in."

Cirelli scored again at 12:12 with a backhand from the slot for the 4-0 final.

Tampa Bay held Dallas to five shots in the third.

"We knew [Vasilevskiy] was going to be great," Stars center Matt Duchene said. "We shelled them last game. Obviously, [Vasilevskiy] wasn't himself last game. He was outstanding for them. We did some good things. It's not like we got totally outplayed or anything like that. We'll have a day off tomorrow and get back at it against Florida (on Wednesday)."

Hedman was plus-1 in 23:55 of ice time in his 1,000th game. Selected by Tampa Bay with the No. 2 pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, he is the first Lightning defenseman to reach the milestone, and their third to play 1,000 games, joining Vincent Lecavalier (1,037) and Steven Stamkos (1,027).

"Time flies; it was super special," Hedman said. "Having my whole family on the ice ... my wife has been with me through everything, and now our two boys. It was breathtaking. I never thought it was possible, but I'm proud to join the club with ‘Stammer’ and Vinny."

NOTES: Hedman was honored in a pregame ceremony that included messages from Lecavalier and former teammates, New Jersey Devils forward Ondrej Palat, Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan McDonagh and Minnesota Wild forward Pat Maroon. ... Six of Vasilevskiy’s 33 career shutouts have come against the Stars. … It was Kucherov’s 215th career multipoint game. ... Dallas forward Joe Pavelski had his nine-game point streak end (12 points; six goals, six assists). ... Stars defenseman Ryan Suter was minus-4 in 19:27.