The Tampa Bay Lightning, winners of eight straight games, are hoping to enjoy their extended stay in the City of Brotherly Love.
Tampa Bay will play two road games against the Philadelphia Flyers in the next few days, beginning with a showdown Saturday evening.
The Lightning have the longest active winning streak in the NHL, and they have scored at least four goals in every game during the streak. Most recently, the team defeated the league-leading Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Tuesday, with Brandon Hagel scoring his 20th goal of the season to break a third-period tie.
“Those are fun games to play in, and obviously, you can sit and probably say any team could’ve won, but it came down to the next goal, and we were able to find it,” Hagel said. “They’ve got an incredible team over there, but we’ve got an incredible team here.”
Nikita Kucherov enters Saturday with a streak of his own — seven straight games with multiple points. He had two assists in the win over Colorado and has registered seven goals and 11 assists during the run.
Darren Raddysh, meanwhile, who also had two assists versus the Avalanche, comes into Saturday’s matchup with a four-game multi-point streak.
Tampa Bay’s scoring depth could prove useful over the next week as the team plays five road games in nine days, including another game in Philadelphia on Monday. There has been a clear contrast in recent results for the Lightning, who went 2-6-1 in the nine games before their current winning streak.
“I think everyone’s just buying in,” said Hagel. “It’s fun to come to the rink when you’re winning, that’s for sure. Obviously, we’re doing a lot of it on the road, and when you’re able to do it at home, that’s fun as well. I think everyone in the room is just buying into what we’ve been talking about for a long time, and when it’s fun to come to the rink, wins are happening. The vibe is good.”
The mood around the Flyers wasn’t great after Thursday’s 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Philadelphia allowed the tying goal — a short-handed score late in regulation — and then gave up the decisive goal midway through OT after missing several scoring chances of their own.
“(Whichever team) converts, wins,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “We had, what, three or four chances, we didn’t convert. They had the one, they score. That’s it.”
Travis Konecny netted the lone goal for the Flyers before missing the third period and overtime with an upper-body injury. His status for Saturday’s game is unclear.
Philadelphia is 1-for-19 on the power play over its last six games. Over the last 16 contests, the team is 4-for-45 with the man advantage.
“I don’t know if it’s the pressure with the power play, the guys are squeezing it so much,” Tocchet said. “But we need some guys to kind of understand the pressure and convert.”
The Lightning won the first matchup between the teams this season — a 3-0 win in Tampa on Nov. 24 — thanks to Hagel (two goals, assist) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (20 saves).
–Field Level Media
