Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Lightning Blank The Canadians

Andrei Vasilevskiy notched his 11th shutout of the season on Thursday night as the Lightning defeated the Canadians on home ice by the score of 4-0. He made big stops all night and got scoring contributions early in the first period on goals by Braydon Point and Nikita Kucherov.

“I didn’t play well the past few games, so it feels pretty good to get the shutout,” said Vasilevskiy, “But we played well defensively and we did a great job.’’ He made 32 saves on the night.

The Lightning got on the board early as Victor Hedman gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 49 seconds of the first period with a blast from the high slot. It was his first goal in 32 games.

“[Hedman is] a world-class defenseman, I think he’s the best in the League,” Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev said. “He does everything well. 5-on-5, 4-on-5, 5-on-4, he’s just a rock. It’s great to have a player like that on the team.”

Alex Killorn also got the Bolts on the board in the 1st period with his 25th goal of the season. Killorn now has a career season high in points with 47.

“I think as you get older, you get more comfortable in the league, you find different ways to score,” Killorn said. “But it’s been going really well for me this year.”

“It seems like I’m just finding the right spots,” Killorn said, “and when I do get the opportunity, I’m making the most of it.”

There was some question in the offseason if Killorn would be back with the team and thankfully for the club, he wasn’t moved. He has been as stable and consistent as any player on the team this year and has been a big reason for their success. It also helps when you have 3 guys that have scored 25 or more goals at this point with Steven Stamkos (29) and Nikita Kucherov(32). Kucherov also scored in the second period Thursday to put the Lightning up 3-0.

The game got chippy late in the second period in front of Andrei Vasilevskiy’s net and continued after the second-period horn as a huge fight happened in the corner with the two main pugilists being Montreal’s Shea Webber and the Lightning’s Mikhail Sergachev. They went toe- toe with each other until Weber missed with a wild right as Sergachev connected with a couple of his own rights as he fell on top of Weber.

The rough play continued in the third with the Lightning trying to limit the Canadian’s chances while trying to keep the shutout in tow. Vasilevskiy stopped 12 shots in the 3rd with Victor Hedman cranking a slapshot past Carey Price at 1:03 left in the game. Hedman’s second goal of the night made the score 4-0 and with it the fans hit the stairs to try to beat the traffic.

Coach Cooper after the game “We asked them to be a little bit more responsible with the puck, [they] were tonight. The goalie was sharp. It’s another win for us. We’re not going to think too much about this one. We’ve got a tough three-game road trip ahead of us.”

Game notes: Kucherov has 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in 27 games against Montreal. … Vasilevskiy is 11-1-2 against the Canadiens. … Lightning defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk got his 300th NHL assist on Hedman’s second goal. Brayden Point had an assist and tied Chris Gratton for 13th on the Lightning points list (259).

Next up for the Lightning: The aforementioned three-game road trip that starts on Saturday night against the Bruins at TD Garden at 7pm.