Lightning Beat Winless Flyers 4-1 as Mikheyev, Holmberg Lead Depth Charge

The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Monday, Oct. 5, at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, getting a goal and an assist each from depth forwards Ilya Mikheyev and Pontus Holmberg and pulling away with two goals late in the third period. The win was Tampa Bay's second straight and lifted the Lightning to 2-1-0, while the Flyers fell to 0-2-2 and remain without a win this season.

Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel also scored for the Lightning, Nikita Kucherov had two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy needed to make only 13 saves as Tampa Bay controlled play for most of the night. It was a good night for Tampa Bay sports all around: across the bay in St. Petersburg, the Rays beat the New York Yankees 5-2 the same evening to take a 2-0 lead in their American League Division Series.

How the game unfolded

Point opened the scoring at 16:05 of the first period, redirecting a shot in front for a 1-0 lead. John Carlson, the longtime Washington Capitals defenseman now with Tampa Bay, and Kucherov assisted on the goal, according to the Lightning's game notes on NHL.com. Point said afterward that shots through traffic create good chances, a theme of the Lightning's attack all night.

Holmberg doubled the lead just 17 seconds into the second period, with Mikheyev and defenseman Ryan McDonagh credited with assists. Philadelphia answered at 7:22 of the second when Tyson Foerster deflected a shot past Vasilevskiy to make it 2-1, with Charles-Edouard D'Astous earning the assist, according to the NHL.com recap.

That was as close as the Flyers would get. Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar kept his team within a goal deep into the third period, but Mikheyev scored on a wraparound at 17:00 to make it 3-1. With Vladar pulled for an extra attacker, Hagel hit the empty net at 19:53 to close out the 4-1 final.

The scoring is summarized below.

Tampa Bay dominated the shot count

The final score understated how lopsided the play was. The Lightning outshot Philadelphia 36-14 and held a 69-36 edge in shot attempts, according to the team's postgame notes on NHL.com. Vladar was the main reason the game stayed close, finishing with 32 saves.

"We've got to be better and it starts with me," Vladar said after the loss, according to NHL.com.

The Lightning got significant production from a line of Holmberg, Mikheyev and Zemgus Girgensons, which was matched against Philadelphia's third line and controlled much of its time on the ice, according to the Lightning's game notes. Holmberg was named one of the game's three stars. Mikheyev's wraparound was his first goal of the season. He had also picked up an assist on Kucherov's goal in the season opener.

Vasilevskiy climbs the career wins list

Vasilevskiy's quiet night still carried a milestone. The win was the 372nd of his NHL career, tying him with Andy Moog for 20th place on the league's all-time list, according to the NHL. The Russian goaltender, who has spent his entire career with Tampa Bay and backstopped the franchise's Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021, also played in his 600th NHL game in Saturday's home opener.

The 13 saves came on 14 shots, and Foerster's deflection was the only puck to beat him. Over his last two starts, Vasilevskiy has allowed two goals.

The season so far for the Lightning

Tampa Bay's season began poorly. The Lightning opened on Thursday, Oct. 1, at Madison Square Garden and lost 5-1 to the New York Rangers. New York led 2-0 after the first period and added two more goals in the second. Kucherov scored Tampa Bay's lone goal, and Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves and scored a goal of his own, according to NHL.com.

The Lightning rebounded two nights later in their home opener on Saturday, Oct. 3, beating the Washington Capitals 3-1. Jake Guentzel had a goal and two assists, D'Astous and Conor Geekie also scored, and Vasilevskiy made 19 saves. Carlson, facing his former team, picked up an assist on Guentzel's empty-net goal. Kucherov's assist that night moved him into a tie with Joe Nieuwendyk and Mike Bossy for 67th on the NHL's all-time points list with 1,126, according to the NHL.com recap.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper was pleased with the response after the opener. "What I really like is that our next two have been pretty darn good," Cooper said Monday, according to NHL.com.

Here is how the first three games went.

Flyers' rough start continues

Philadelphia has opened a season with four straight losses for the first time since 2014-15, when it also started 0-2-2, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia. The Flyers, coached by Rick Tocchet, arrived in Tampa after an overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday and were without defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, a late scratch with an undisclosed injury sustained in that game, according to the NHL.com recap.

Monday's game opened a road trip for the Flyers, who managed only 14 shots against a Tampa Bay team that rarely let them settle into the offensive zone.

What's next

The Lightning stay home and host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. at Benchmark International Arena. It is part of a busy October stretch that includes games against the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 15 and the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 17.

After three games, the Lightning have allowed eight goals, five of them in the opener in New York and only two in the two games since. If Vasilevskiy and the defense keep up that pace, Tampa Bay will be well positioned when the schedule thickens later in the month. Vasilevskiy's next win would move him past Moog and into sole possession of 20th place on the NHL's career list.