Nikita Kucherov, the NHL's top point-producer, collected one goal and three assists to lead the host Tampa Bay Lightning to a 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.
Brayden Point collected one goal and two assists, and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves for the NHL-leading Lightning, who have won three straight games and are riding a 5-0-2 run.
Yanni Gourde and Steven Stamkos each produced a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay, which also got tallies from Cedric Paquette and Anthony Cirelli.
Sean Monahan scored twice and Mark Giordano had a goal for Calgary. Elias Lindholm was credited with three assists while Johnny Gaudreau collected two helpers.
David Rittich stopped 21 shots for the Flames, who have lost three straight games and four of five outings (1-3-1) to drop out of the top spot in the Western Conference.
Point kicked off the scoring parade with his league-leading 16th power-play goal at 11:54 of the first period, finishing a pretty three-way passing play for his 33rd marker of the season.
Paquette doubled the lead at 16:06 of the period, burying a one-timer while the Lightning used their great transition game to take advantage of a Flames line change. Paquette snapped a 21-game goal-scoring drought.
Kucherov made it a 3-0 count 73 seconds later when he fired a long shot through the screen from the high slot for his 25th marker.
Calgary did make a game of it briefly. Giordano scored his 12th goal of the season during a five-on-three power play at 18:06 of the first period to put the visitors on the board, and then Monahan tallied at 9:13 of the second period to make it a 3-2 game.
However, Cirelli scored less than a minute later, tucking home a backhand shot from the doorstep, and Gourde deflected a point shot for his 15th of the season with less than four minutes left in the second period to restore the three-goal bulge.
The clubs traded third-period power-play goals to round out the scoring. Stamkos notched his 30th of the season at 5:01, and Monahan netted his second of the night and 29th of the campaign with 5:49 remaining.
--Field Level Media
Calgary | Tampa Bay | |
Elias Lindholm 3 | Points | Nikita Kucherov 4 |
Sean Monahan 2 | Goals | Nikita Kucherov 1 |
Elias Lindholm 3 | Assists | Nikita Kucherov 3 |
Sean Monahan 1 | Power Play Goals | Brayden Point 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
David Rittich .778 | Save Percentage | Andrei Vasilevskiy .864 |
David Rittich 21 | Saves | Andrei Vasilevskiy 19 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Calgary | 22 | 3 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 8 | 28 |
Tampa Bay | 27 | 6 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 8 | 31 |