Looking to finish December on a high note, the Tampa Bay Lightning got off to a good start on Tuesday in a rousing win with an unlikely offensive contributor.
The Lightning will finish their two-game homestand Thursday night when the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights make their lone appearance bayside in Florida.
Tampa Bay's unexpected spark in its 6-1 rout of the St. Louis Blues came from defenseman Haydn Fleury, who scored his first goal in over two years and recorded an assist.
The 27-year-old Fleury ripped a wobbly puck -- creating a knuckling, fluttering effect -- to beat Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington for his first goal since scoring twice for the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 28, 2021.
He said he received some good advice on shooting from a current New Jersey Devils blue-liner many years ago.
"It was a knuckler, and one of the older guys when I was younger said to always shoot a rolling puck, so it worked out," said Fleury, who has 10 career goals in 251 games and was the game's third star. "(It was) Dougie Hamilton actually, when I was younger. He has a lot of goals as a D-man so you can listen to him."
But it was not just Fleury who had an outstanding night.
In their first game back after a disappointing 2-3-0 Western Conference road trip, the Lightning got contributions on the scoresheet from 12 players, including Nikita Kucherov, who scored twice to pad his NHL points lead.
The right winger also crafted his 16th multi-point game of the season, matching the league high set by Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon.
Currently 9-3-3 at home, Tampa Bay finishes December with four of five contests at its own rink.
Vegas did not fare nearly as well as the Lightning, surrendering half-a-dozen goals in a 6-3 setback at the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
In a decisive second period, the Hurricanes scored three times to grab a 4-1 lead. Carolina's Seth Jarvis potted a third man-advantage marker just 10 seconds into the third, and the Hurricanes cruised to a convincing victory over the champs.
Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy admitted that his group was outplayed throughout but thought the special teams play was the major difference.
"They outscored us 3-0," Cassidy said. "You're not winning if you get outscored 3-0 on special teams. ... They're an aggressive team in general and so we have to be able to handle those types of penalty kills."
Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault, who played in Tampa from 2014-16, said it was a poor way to start a four-game road trip.
"It wasn't about X's and O's (Tuesday), I thought our effort was miserable," said Marchessault, who is tied with Jack Eichel for the team high in goals with 15. "Games like that happen, but it's about how you respond. ... It's not about the other team, it's about us.
"We didn't execute, we didn't support each other and we made our life just a little more complicated."
Vegas' remaining schedule on the Eastern trek will take them to the Florida Panthers before returning west and ending at the Anaheim Ducks.
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