Vasilevskiy stops 21, Lightning shut out Flyers to gain in Atlantic

TAMPA -- Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 2-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Amalie Arena on Monday.

The shutout was Vasilevskiy’s fifth of the season and 39th in the NHL.

"The regular season is about ups and downs, it's basically an 82-game preparation for the playoffs," Vasilevskiy said. "We want to feel good about our game. The commitment to play defense helps a lot to boost my numbers. It's a team effort. No goalie in this league can be successful without a good team."

Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist for the Lightning (39-23-5), who won their second in a row and pulled within two points of the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division with a game in hand. Tampa Bay lost to Philadelphia 4-3 in a shootout on Thursday.

"This was not our best night, we just turned the puck over way too often; we were fortunate that Philly wasn't capitalizing on it," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We simplified our game and got better...but we've got to play way better than that going into Dallas, Utah and Vegas.”

Ivan Fedotov made 21 saves for the Flyers (28-33-8), who have lost seven of eight (1-7-0) and were shut out for the second straight game following a 5-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Philadelphia remained eight points behind the New York Rangers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

"We were patient, something we needed to be, I thought [Fedotov] played really well," Flyers coach John Tortorella said. "The goaltending was good. I thought we played hard. I thought we checked really well and the patience level was good. We just needed someone to score a goal."

Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 18:31 of the first period when he forced Travis Konecny into a turnover at the blue line and scored on a breakaway, beating Fedotov with a forehand high to the stick side.

"We played well, other than that mishap I had there 4-on-4, and they got a break there," Konecny said. "We were in that game the whole time."

Jake Guentzel made it 2-0 at 18:30 of the third period on the power play with an empty-net goal.

"That's two out of the past three games taking a penalty when we're trying to get the goalie out, which is frustrating," Tortorella said.

Said Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh: "We knew it was going to be a grinding, patient game. We didn't create a lot tonight, but you have to give them credit, they defend hard and work hard. It was great for us to find a way."

Philadelphia was 0-for-5 on the power play, failing to score on a four-minute man-advantage in the second period when Lightning defenseman Emil Lilleberg was given a double minor for high-sticking.

"We've got to score a goal," Tortorella said. "The four-minute penalty...it's not good enough. We needed a play off our power play, and we didn't get it."

The Flyers have failed to score on their previous 23 power plays.

"We're collapsing and trying to get numbers to the net," Konecny said. "We're not trying to be fancy, just trying to bounce one off somebody.

NOTES: Vasilevskiy’s fifth shutout tied Igor Shesterkin for the second most in the NHL this season, behind Connor Hellebuyck (six). … Tampa Bay won for the first time this season after scoring two goals or fewer (1-15-3). ...The Lightning penalty kill is 27-for-29 over the past 10 games. ... Tampa Bay forward Brayden Point had an assist, his first point in five games.