National Hockey League
Tampa Bay 4, Calgary 3
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 29, 2020
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Referees: Jean Hebert, Jon McIsaac
Linesmen: Brad Kovachik, James Tobias
Attendance: 19092

Tampa Bay's special teams scored three times in a 4-3 win over the visiting Calgary Flames on a Saturday afternoon when the Lightning announced captain Steven Stamkos would miss the remainder of the regular season.

Before its first meeting with the Flames, the organization issued a statement that Stamkos would have surgery Monday to repair a lingering core muscle injury.

The timeline for his recovery is six to eight weeks.

Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat netted power-play goals, Yanni Gourde had a short-handed tally, and Alex Killorn added a marker. Nikita Kucherov and Mikhail Sergachev each contributed two assists.

Kucherov's helpers extended his point streak to seven games (four goals, six assists), but the right wing has points in the last 19 games (14 goals, 17 assists) he has skated in -- missing the Feb. 13 contest to separate the streaks.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves to notch his league-leading 33rd victory for the Lightning, who snapped a four-game losing streak -- all in regulation -- and moved to 11-2-0 against the Pacific Division.

Elis Lindholm had a goal and an assist, and Andrew Mangiapane and Sean Monahan posted markers. Goalie David Rittich stopped 29 of 33 shots for Calgary, which went 6-7-1 in February.

Tampa Bay's power-play unit, which had been just 6-for-66 in 2020, clicked on its first of the contest in the first period. Johnson was able to tip in Sergachev's long shot at 13:52 for a 1-0 lead.

Mikael Backlund appeared to tie at 1 only 63 seconds later in a battle with Sergachev near the open net, but the play was reviewed by the officials and the goal was disallowed because of Backlund's obvious kick that sent the puck into the net.

The Lightning connected again on their second power play, using a fortunate redirection off the stick of Calgary's Derek Forbort on Palat's wrister at 7:05 for a 2-0 lead.

Gourde pushed it to 3-0 at 11:50 of the second on Tampa Bay's first penalty kill, but Mangiapane and Lindholm scored 52 seconds apart to bring the visitors to within one, 3-2. However, Killorn tallied on a breakaway -- the fourth goal in a span of 3:07 - for a two-goal lead for Tampa Bay.

Monahan scored a power-play goal with 2:49 left in regulation, but the Flames couldn't tie it with Rittich pulled and the extra skater on in the final 2 1/2 minutes.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Calgary   Tampa Bay
Elias Lindholm 2 Points Nikita Kucherov 2
Elias Lindholm 1 Goals Yanni Gourde 1
Elias Lindholm 1 Assists Nikita Kucherov 2
Sean Monahan 1 Power Play Goals Tyler Johnson 1
N/A Short Handed Goals Yanni Gourde 1
David Rittich .879 Save Percentage Andrei Vasilevskiy .857
David Rittich 29 Saves Andrei Vasilevskiy 18
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Calgary 21 3 1-2 2-4 10 26
Tampa Bay 33 4 2-4 1-2 6 31
Upcoming Games
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Boston. The Lightning have a W/L % of .625 after a win and .640 after a loss.
  • Calgary will play their next game on the road against Florida. The Flames have a W/L % of .441 after a win and .562 after a loss.