Mikheyev, Lightning Down Blackhawks for Eighth Straight Home Win
By Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports
Ilya Mikheyev scored twice, and Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh each scored as the Tampa Bay Lightning dominated the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday night, 4-1. The win was the eighth straight home win at Benchmark International Arena to start the season, improving on the franchise-setting mark.
Hedman scored his 36th career power-play goal at 4:12 in the first period on a give-and-go with center Anthony Cirelli. The Lightning captain rushed the open lane into the Chicago zone and gave the puck to center Anthony Cirelli.
Cirelli then returned it to Hedman, who drove it past Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom.
"I've played together with Tony (Cirelli) for a long time, and we know our instincts," Hedman said. "We trust those, and that's why it was kind of open and had some good speed. So it was a good play."
After a slow start, the Lightning have now scored on special teams seven of their last eight games, and are at 28% during that span (7-for-25). The improvement has Hedman looking for more time.
"I want to be back on it (special teams)," Hedman Said. "I think I can still bring a lot to the table when it comes to special teams, PK and PP. It was good to be out there and nice to contribute right away."
The Bolts improved to 8-0-1 when scoring the game-opening goal.
Mikheyev made it 2-0 when Pontus Holmberg made a cross-ice neutral zone pass to Erik Cernak at the Chicago blue line. Cernak found the former Blackhawk and drew defenseman Sam Rinzel away long enough for Mikheyev to get the shot in at the18:22 mark.
Viel Gets Second Period Going Lightning's Way
After struggling in the second period Tuesday night, Tampa Bay enforcer Jeff Viel set the tone to start the second frame tonight to keep the Lightning's momentum going after the first intermission.
Viel locked up with Blackhawks forward Dillon Boucher two minutes into the second period, cutting above Boucher's eye. Both were sent off with major penalties, and the Bolts responded in kind.
"That was amazing. Obviously, the other guy (Boucher) is really tough. He wanted to fight somebody in the Florida game, then he wanted to fight tonight," Cernak said of Viel's fight. "Chopper did a great job, got him leaking a little bit. So proud of him, how he handled himself."
Although they did not score in the second period, the Lightning outshot the Blackhawks 16-9, tied for most in a single period this season (October 15th in the first period vs. Pittsburgh).
McDonagh, Mikheyev Ice the Game
Ryan McDonagh put the Lightning up 3-0 at the 2:38 mark of the third period on a slap shot that hit top shelf in the right corner of the net. It was his second goal in two games.
Jake Guentzel attempted to dump the puck in front from behind the Chicago net to Nikita Kucherov, but the pass went through the crease and bounced off the far wall.
McDonagh found the puck in stride at the top of the circle and blasted it past Soderblom.
The Bolts outshot Chicago 35-25. Tampa Bay has outshot its opponent in 11 of its 15 games this season and is 8-2-1 when it leads in shots.
Mikheyev, Zemgus Girgensons, and Holmberg combined for 10 shots.
Mikheyev sent Blackhawks fans packing with his second goal at the 5:08 mark of the third period.
"How about that? He gets to play against his old team and scores two. That's pretty cool. Good for him," coach Jon Cooper said.
"They're really honest players. They're doing the right things out there, playing the system, and obviously they can handle the pucks down low," Cernak said of the Holmberg line. "They have chances, and it showed tonight. They scored two goals, three goals, I think. So definitely, they're a huge part of the success, and hopefully it's gonna go that way."
"That's a pretty darn good trio, and they spent a lot more time in the offensive zone than the line they were going against," Cooper said. "A lot of times your best defense is having the puck in the offensive zone, and if you don't give those really high-end guys a chance to play offense, it can get frustrating."
"The only time we kind of lost our matchup on that was on icings and stuff like that, but it was a great effort. And Girgy (Girgensons) was flying out there, so it was good to see."
Chicago broke up Andrei Vasilevskiy's near-shutout with 49 seconds left when Roman Katserov deflected a Rinzel shot in. Otherwise, Vasilevskiy was stellar, stopping the remaining 24 Chicago shots.
The Lightning moved to 10-3-2 overall (22 pts.), 8-0-0 on home ice, 6-1-2 against Western Conference opponents, and 3-1-2 against Central Division opponents.
The Bolts (8-0-0) became the fifth team over the past 10 years to begin a season with eight or more consecutive home wins, joining the Bruins (14 GP in 2022-23), Panthers (11 GP in 2021-22), Golden Knights (8 GP in 2024-25) and Canadiens (10 GP in 2016-17).
Cernak credited the win to Tampa Bay's focus on not falling into a lull like Tuesday night against Detroit, when they had to fight through penalties and mistakes late to keep the Red Wings in the game.
"I think we were playing the same way the whole 60 minutes compared to the Detroit game where we played really well in the first period, but then we kind of slowed down," Cernak said. "We knew what we had to do tonight. Just play the same way the full 60 minutes, and I think everybody did a great job."
Thunderstruck Three Stars of the Game
Ilya Mikheyev, Tampa Bay. He scored two goals against his former team, including the game-winner.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay. He stopped 24 of 25 shots in a near-shutout performance.
Erik Cernak, Tampa Bay. He had assists on both Mikheyev goals to earn his 10th career two-point game.
Up Next
The Tampa Bay Lightning head to Grand Casino Arena in Minnesota to face the Wild on Saturday. Puck drop is at 8 pm.
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