Ilya Mikheyev scores twice against his former team as the Lightning stay perfect at home

For two seasons, Ilya Mikheyev wore a Blackhawks sweater. On Thursday night at Benchmark International Arena, he made the Blackhawks pay for the reunion.

Mikheyev scored twice, Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh added goals, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat Chicago 4-1 to remain unbeaten at home. The Associated Press and NHL.com both put the Lightning at 8-0-0 in their building and 10-3-2 overall. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 of 26 shots, per NHL.com and ESPN's box; the AP roundup listed 24 saves on the same night.

NHL.com listed Tampa Bay among five clubs in the last decade to start a season with at least eight straight home wins, a group that also includes recent runs by Boston, Florida, Vegas and Montreal.

First-period cushion

Hedman opened the scoring 4:12 into the first on the power play, joining the rush and beating Arvid Soderblom five-hole from the hash marks after a feed from Anthony Cirelli. Mikheyev doubled the lead at 18:22, firing from above the left circle through Soderblom with Erik Cernak screening in front.

"If you play at home and you score an early goal it's a huge advantage," Mikheyev said afterward, per NHL.com. "You feel confident right away, and it's more comfortable, of course."

Chicago thought it had cut the deficit late in the second when Frank Nazar put the puck in the net, but a review confirmed a high stick before the shot, and the call on the ice stood. The Blackhawks kept coming without finding the scoresheet until the final minute.

Closing it out

McDonagh made it 3-0 early in the third, ripping a slap shot glove side off a pass from Jake Guentzel at 2:38. Mikheyev finished the night at 5:08, tipping Cernak's cross-ice feed in the crease for his second goal and fourth of the season. Cernak finished with two assists.

"How about that, he gets to play against his old team and scores two," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "That's pretty cool. Good for him."

Cooper also liked the 60-minute shape. "We didn't get a ton of big-time chances, but overall I liked the way we played," he said. "We played a pretty steady, solid team and give Chicago credit, that's a young team and they kept coming."

Roman Kantserov scored with 50 seconds left for Chicago, redirecting a Sam Rinzel shot to spoil the shutout and extend his point streak to seven games. Soderblom finished with 31 saves. The Blackhawks fell to 4-12-1 and have lost five straight (0-4-1).

Tampa Bay has points in five consecutive games (3-0-2). Brayden Point picked up an assist and stretched his point streak to six. Zemgus Girgensons returned after missing three games with a lower-body injury and assisted on Mikheyev's second goal. NHL.com noted he joined Tampa Bay on a four-year contract signed July 1 after leaving Chicago.

Road trip ahead

The Lightning open a four-game trip Saturday at Minnesota. Chicago visits Carolina the same night.

Sources

The Associated Press

nhl.com

ESPN