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 Vasilevskiy stopped 23 of 24 shots, centers Steven Stamkos, Tyler
Johnson and Valtteri Filppula scored goals and the Lightning beat
the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 on Tuesday night.
"It's awesome. It was my childhood dream," Vasilevskiy said. "I'm
very excited. It's the best feeling in my life."
Right winger Wayne Simmonds had the lone goal for Philadelphia,
which was 3-0-2 in its previous five games.
The 20-year-old Vasilevskiy, a first-round pick in 2012, was
recalled from the Lightning's AHL affiliate in Syracuse, N.Y.,
earlier in the day. He made his best save to preserve the lead with
an outstanding left pad save on a backhander in front by center
Scott Laughton in the third period.
"We played him because he's a talented kid, but we thought he might
be able to give us a spark and clearly he did," Lightning coach Jon
Cooper said of the rookie goaltender. "To come up here and play in
Philadelphia; it's not the easiest place to play. This for sure will
always be a night he will remember."
 Vasilevskiy didn't even practice with the team at the morning skate
before learning he would get the start.
The Lightning (20-10-3) have won six straight over the Flyers
(11-14-5).
"I had no clue that we had lost to them six in a row," Flyers right
winger Jakub Voracek said. "For me, that's a number we want to
change but we got outplayed defensively. They play good defensive
hockey."
Seeking their third straight win, the Flyers jumped ahead 1-0 when
Simmonds scored a power-play goal with 40.4 seconds left in the
first period. Center Claude Giroux fed defenseman Mark Streit, who
fired a one-timer at the net. Simmonds deflected it in for his 14th
goal and sixth in the last six games.
"I think we had a lot of chances to score," Giroux said. "We played
good in the first period and we kind of got away with our game
after."
Stamkos fired a wrist shot under the crossbar just 1:50 into the
second period to tie it at 1. Left winger Jonathan Drouin set it up
with a drop-pass to a streaking Stamkos, who has a team-high 18
goals.
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"It was kind of a little give-and-go; support play," Stamkos said.
"He can make those plays; it was again nice to shoot a puck with no
one in front. It was nice to see it go in."
Johnson gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead in the second period on his
10th goal seconds after a power-play chance ended. Johnson beat
Flyers goalie Steve Mason on a rebound following a shot by right
winger Ryan Callahan.
Filppula added an empty-net goal to seal the win.
"There were times when we took control of the game," Giroux said.
"We played the games just like the games we just played. And I think
we need to look at some tape and see what we're doing wrong. And I
think there's a lot of positive here."
NOTES: The Flyers honored Hall of Fame F Peter Forsberg, who was
drafted by Philadelphia and traded for C Eric Lindros. Forsberg
returned to the Flyers as a free agent and played 100 games between
2005-07. He had 115 points as a Flyer and was the 15th captain in
franchise history. ... Lightning G Andrei Vasilevskiy started
because G Ben Bishop sustained a lower-body injury in the first
period of a 4-2 loss at Pittsburgh. ... Lightning LW Ondrej Palat
missed his fourth straight game because of a lower-body injury. ...
Flyers C Vinny Lecavalier was a healthy scratch, missing his seventh
straight game. D Michael Del Zotto also was a healthy scratch. ...
The Flyers finish a four-game homestand on Thursday vs. Florida.
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