NHL Traverse City Prospects Tournament: Tampa Bay Loses To St. Louis

The prospects of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the St. Louis Blues faced off today with a final score of 4-2 Blues. The puck dropped at 6:30 p.m, ET. Dustin Tokarski was the starting goaltender for the Lightning while Jake Allen took the net for the Blues. 

The game started with some rough stuff, a fight between St. Louis' Cody Beach and Tampa's Teigan Zahn about 3 minutes in.

The Lightning stuck first when 2010 first round pick Brett Connolly buried the puck off a two-on-one with Carter Ashton 4:13 into the first period. The goal was Connolly's first of two on the night.

St. Louis quickly responded as forward Brett Sonne knocked in a rebound at 10:56 of the first. By the end of period one, the score was tied 1-1 and the shots were 7-5 for the Blues.

Period number two had the St. Louis Blues written all over it. Anthony Peluso jumped straight into action, scoring just 56 seconds in and making the score 2-1 Blues. St. Louis goalie Jake Allen stayed solid from then on, stoning the Lightning on a 1:35 five-on-three power play, keeping the score at 2-1. The Blues would go on to score one more after Sonne knocked in his second off a rebound with 1:43 left. The shots were 22-13 in favour of the Blues after 40.

Tampa Bay got off to a good start in the third, with Connolly redirecting a James Wright feed for his second of the game. Connolly's goal made the score 3-2, but that's as close as the Lightning ever got to tying it up.

St. Louis right wing Tyler Shattock replaced the 2-goal lead with 2:44 left in the third. That goal made the score 4-2, which was the final score. The final shot total was 35-26 for St. Louis.

The Blues' next game is against the Dallas Stars on Sunday at 1:30 p.m, ET, and the Lightning will face off against the Detroit Redwings tomorrow at 6:00 p.m.

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