Three impressive streaks continued Saturday as Nikita Kucherov registered two goals and two assists to highlight the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 7-2 road win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
With his latest dazzling effort, Kucherov has points in nine straight games and multiple points in each of his last eight contests. He was one of several stars for Tampa Bay, which posted its ninth consecutive victory — the longest active streak in the NHL.
The other standouts for the Lightning in this one included Gage Goncalves, who scored twice, and Brandon Hagel, who tallied in his third straight game. Brayden Point added three assists for Tampa Bay, while Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 18 saves.
Garnet Hathaway and Owen Tippett scored for Philadelphia, which will host Tampa Bay again on Monday. Dan Vladar will get the start in that one after Samuel Ersson allowed seven goals on 23 shots on Saturday.
Kucherov needed only 1:49 to get on the scoresheet. Point stole the puck from rookie Denver Barkey along the boards and found a wide-open Kucherov on the doorstep for an easy one-timer.
About 2 1/2 minutes later, Hathaway registered his first goal of the season. After a scramble behind the net, Noah Juulsen took a shot from the point that Hathaway deflected past Vasilevskiy.
However, Tampa Bay regained the advantage less than two minutes later, as Kucherov scored on a wrister from the left circle that zipped past Ersson’s glove.
The Lightning extended their lead with 6:23 left in the second period. Ersson made a pair of saves following a turnover by Rasmus Ristolainen, but Nick Paul deposited a rebound to make it 3-1.
Goncalves’s fifth of the season made it 4-1 early in the third period. On an offensive rush, he cut inside Travis Sanheim at the last moment and flipped a shot over Ersson’s shoulder.
Hagel and Yanni Gourd added breakaway tallies later in the period before Goncalves provided the exclamation point with nine minutes left.
Tippett’s third-period power-play goal was one of the only bright spots for the Flyers.
–Field Level Media
