The Lightning finally had some breathing room. That proved to be important when the Kings received a power play at 17:03. They pulled Rittich for an extra attacker. The Lightning held Los Angeles to only one SOG during the six-on-four (a long-range attempt from Drew Doughty) before Cirelli tracked a Hagel clear and tallied an empty-netter at 18:43.

The star defenseman has missed 47 games after undergoing surgery in early October to repair a fractured left ankle sustained in a preseason game against Vegas

As the 4-Nations Face-Off tournament and the resulting break loom in February, the Tampa Bay Lightning are seeking one key as January comes to a close: normalcy.

While the star defenseman’s season debut hasn’t been determined, the Kings try to climb the .500 mark away from home, starting with Columbus on Saturday

Doughty plays about 24 minutes in his season debut but the Kings fall, 3-0, and have lost seven of their past nine games, scoring just 15 goals in that stretch.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots, Brandon Hagel scored two goals and had an assist and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 on Thursday night. Anthony Cirelli scored his fourth short-handed goal of the season for the Kings.

A key difference on this trip, their last of four tours of five games or more in 2024-25, will be the presence of top defenseman Drew Doughty ... the formidable Tampa Bay Lightning, winners ...

Head Coach Jim Hiller was asked postgame after the second straight time being shutout, if he was close to asking GM Rob Blake to look for external options, which he replied: "I don't think so at

Anthony Cirelli scored his fourth short-handed goal of the season for Tampa Bay. The shutout was Andrei Vasilevskiy’s 37th of his career.

Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs has been selected as the U.S. captain for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.

The Flames get Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost. Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier go to Philadelphia. Follow this tracker for the latest NHL news.