Nikita Kucherov and the Tampa Bay Lightning put a trio of impressive streaks on the line Monday when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers for the second time in three days.
The Lightning cruised to a 7-2 victory on Saturday in Philadelphia as Kucherov registered two goals and two assists. Not only did Kucherov extend his points streak to nine games and his run of multi-point games to eight, he helped Tampa Bay stretch its winning streak to nine straight games — the longest active streak in the NHL.
“It doesn’t necessarily surprise me, but I’m just so impressed by it,” Lightning forward Brayden Point, who had three assists, said of Kucherov. “It’s every year. I think a lot of it is not only his talent, but his dedication and his work ethic. He’s our best player, and he works the hardest. There’s a reason why, not only was he gifted, but he’s worked really hard to become one of the best players in the league.”
Kucherov has nine goals and 14 assists in his last nine games. However, he is far from the only weapon on this multifaceted team.
Gage Goncalves added two goals for the Lightning in Saturday’s win while Brandon Hagel scored for the third straight game. Nick Paul and Yanni Gourde also tallied for Tampa Bay while Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves.
Perhaps the most surprising part of the Lightning’s nine-game winning streak? They went 2-6-1 in the nine games directly before this run.
“When we lost seven of nine, we didn’t change the way we played, and we just kept going,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “I thought we were playing pretty well when we weren’t getting points. I liked our game. And now the guys are getting rewarded. If you want to put yourself in a position to make the playoffs, you have to have a couple of these streaks. What do they say? Nine is a fluke, 10 would be a streak.”
Tampa Bay is looking to post its first 10-game winning streak since winning 11 in a row during the 2019-20 season, which concluded with the Lightning winning the Stanley Cup.
Garnet Hathaway and Owen Tippett scored Saturday for the Flyers, who had gone 2-0-1 in their previous three games.
“It’s one of those games,” first-year Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “When you play the game long enough, you’re going to have those type of games. But we do need some better efforts. A couple of our guys that we count on to score are turning the puck over too much. You can’t play that way. Too slow, east-west.”
Samuel Ersson allowed all seven goals while facing just 23 shots. However, his teammates refused to blame their netminder after the lopsided defeat.
“We’ve got to be better in front of him,” Tippett said. “Those are tough games to play. Obviously, I think he deserved better. I don’t know if the sarcastic cheers are really appreciated, but we’ve got to do a better job in front of him and not put him in some of those situations.”
Philadelphia likely will turn back to Dan Vladar on Monday. Vladar has yielded two goals or fewer in seven of his last eight games.
–Field Level Media
