Clayton Keller scored the game-deciding goal in the shootout, and goaltender Connor Ingram set an NHL record in his first career shutout as the Arizona Coyotes beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 on Wednesday night in Tempe, Ariz.
After Arizona’s Nick Schmaltz and Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos scored in the first two rounds, Keller went forehand-backhand and roofed home a shot for a 2-1 lead. Ingram then denied Nikita Kucherov for the win.
Ingram set a league record by stopping 47 shots in his first career shutout — breaking the record for most saves by one over teammate Karel Vejmelka, who had 46 on Nov. 29, 2021.
The blanking came in Ingram’s 21st career game as he set a career high in saves.
The Coyotes earned points for the seventh straight game (4-0-3). The last time they accomplished that was a stretch from Dec. 31, 2015 to Jan. 14, 2016 when they went 5-0-2.
The Lightning won the first meeting 5-3 on New Year’s Eve in Tampa, and neither backup netminder disappointed in his rare time to shine.
In his first start since losing 4-3 in overtime against the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 7, Tampa Bay’s Brian Elliott stopped 26 shots in recording his 44th career shutout as the Lightning fell to 6-1-2 in their past nine games.
Despite playing the night before in Denver and beating the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 in the shootout, the Lightning had the better energy and puck movement early in the third outing on their four-game road swing.
After earning the match’s first power play and outshooting the home side 13-2 through almost 10 minutes, Tampa Bay went on a second power play when Arizona’s Troy Stecher went off for delay of game at 11:46.
However, Ingram was up to the task and stopped all 20 offerings by the visitors in the period — a season-high of shots faced over one period against the Coyotes.
In the second period, the Lightning failed on their third power play and actually allowed the best scoring chance in the two minutes. Arizona’s Barrett Hayton took off on a short-handed breakaway attempt, but the shot struck Elliott’s shoulder to keep it scoreless.
During a busy middle frame, Ingram stopped 17 more shots to bring his total through 40 minutes to 37 saves — the highest amount through two periods without allowing a goal by an NHL backstop this season.
–Field Level Media