TAMPA (Interstat) — Ilya Mikheyev scored twice, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Thursday at Benchmark International Arena. Attendance was 19,092. Tampa Bay improved to 10-5 and remained perfect at home this season. Chicago dropped to 4-13. Vasilevskiy allowed only Roman Kantserov’s goal with 49 seconds left.

Victor Hedman opened the scoring at 4:12 of the first period, firing a wrist shot past Arvid Soderblom after Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel worked the puck to the point. The Lightning doubled their lead late in the period when Mikheyev scored at 18:22, with Erik Cernak and Pontus Holmberg assisting. Chicago had early chances, including a Connor Bedard wrist shot that Vasilevskiy saved at 11:16, but the Blackhawks could not solve the Tampa Bay goaltender. Soderblom was busy early as well, stopping Zemgus Girgensons on a wrist shot at 20 seconds and Ryan McDonagh on a slap shot at 24 seconds. The Lightning also received an early hit from Cernak on Kantserov and a blocked shot from John Carlson on Tyler Bertuzzi. Tampa Bay led 2-0 after the first period.

The second period brought more chances for both teams. Vasilevskiy stopped Cirelli and Hagel on close-range opportunities early in the period, then denied Nikita Kucherov on a slap shot and a wrist shot during a sustained Tampa Bay push. Soderblom kept Chicago within two by stopping Bedard, Anton Frondell and Sam Rinzel in succession. Chicago’s Dillon Boucher and Tampa Bay’s Jeff Viel received fighting majors at 2:59 of the second. Chicago’s Ethan Del Mastro was whistled for interference against Holmberg at 18:52, and Tampa Bay’s Charle-Edouard D’Astous was called for holding against Cole Smith at 20:30. The Blackhawks also killed off a hooking penalty to Bedard in the period.

Ryan McDonagh made it 3-0 at 6:38 of the third period, taking a slap shot that beat Soderblom. Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point picked up the assists. Mikheyev scored his second of the game at 15:08, redirecting a tip-in past Soderblom with Cernak and Girgensons assisting. Chicago finally broke through when Kantserov scored with 49 seconds left, with Sam Rinzel and Ethan Del Mastro getting assists. The goal ended Vasilevskiy’s shutout bid but did not change the outcome. Vasilevskiy finished with 24 saves on 25 shots. Soderblom made several strong stops but took the loss.

Vasilevskiy was the top star for Tampa Bay. He earned the win after stopping 24 of 25 shots, including key saves on Bedard, Cirelli and Kucherov. In his previous start, Vasilevskiy stopped 18 of 20 shots in a win over Detroit. He also stopped 17 of 21 shots in a win over Winnipeg earlier in the season. Mikheyev had two goals on three shots and added one hit. Girgensons contributed one assist, five shots and one hit. Cernak had two assists and three shots. McDonagh scored once on three shots and recorded one hit. Cirelli added one assist and two shots. Hedman scored once on three shots. Holmberg had one assist and two shots. Guentzel had one assist and one shot. Point had one assist.

Chicago’s penalty troubles continued throughout the game. Del Mastro was called for tripping in the first period and interference in the second. Boucher received a fighting major, and Bedard was called for hooking. Tampa Bay’s D’Astous was penalized for holding, and Viel received a fighting major. The Lightning finished the game with a 4-1 advantage on the scoreboard despite a relatively even shot count. Tampa Bay controlled long stretches of the first and third periods, while Chicago’s best chances came in the second and late in the third. The Blackhawks have now lost four of their last five games. The Lightning have won two straight and remain unbeaten at home.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tampa Bay 4, Chicago 1. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Tampa Bay with a 79.6 percent probability to win. Tampa Bay had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 5 went over the over/under line of 6.5.