After taking down the New York Islanders Saturday afternoon at UBS Arena, the Tampa Bay Lightning collected a second-consecutive victory in a 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils Sunday afternoon at Prudential Center. The two victories marked the first time this season that the Bolts recorded wins in both games of a back-to-back set.
Following a scoreless first period, Victor Hedman opened the scoring 1:27 into the middle frame with Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel picking up the assists. After Hagel won a battle along the wall in the offensive zone, Kucherov collected the puck at the point and moved downhill into the slot, drawing all attention from the New Jersey defenders before calmly feathering a pass to Hedman, who beat Akira Schmid with a quick one-timer for his 10th goal of the season.
Only 2:48 later, Brayden Point showcased excellent patience when he beat Schmid to put Tampa Bay up 2-0 with his 30th goal of the year. When Hedman sent a pass through the neutral zone for Kucherov, the All-Star winger redirected the dish across the Devils blue line, allowing Point to sweep the puck past Colin Miller and skate in all alone on Schmid before waiting out the New Jersey netminder and lighting the lamp with a forehand shot to double the Lightning lead. With the assist, Kucherov became the first player in the NHL to hit the 100-point mark this season, doing so in just 59 games.
As it felt like the Bolts were beginning to run away with the game, the Devils got back within one on a fortuitous bounce for Tyler Toffoli. With New Jersey on the power play, Jack Hughes skated behind the Tampa Bay net and attempted to send a pass to the point for Jesper Bratt. Making the right play, Hedman stepped up to disrupt the attempted pass, but the puck deflected off his skate and ended up right on the tape of Toffoli, who beat Jonas Johansson to make it 2-1 with 13:59 remaining in the second period.
Going into the third period with the one-goal lead, the Lightning made it a 3-1 game off the stick of Hagel, who continues to be scorching hot with points in 13 consecutive games. Jumping into the air to grab the puck near the Devils blue line, Hagel secured possession and fed Kucherov, who skated into the offensive zone and found Point near the top of the right circle. Looking to find Hagel in front, Point sent a pass to the slot that John Marino deflected, but Hagel was right there to jam home the rebound with one hand on his stick to restore the two-goal lead.
Capping off a dominant afternoon, Kucherov added an empty-net goal with 1:35 remaining in regulation to seal the 4-1 win. Perfectly symbolizing the hard work Bolts fans see on a nightly basis, Hagel won a puck battle along the wall and sent a quick dish to Kucherov, who fired home his 38th goal of the year to bring his season point total to 102.
With the win, Tampa Bay moved to 2-0-0 on the three-game road trip, which will conclude with a 7 p.m. ET matchup vs. the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center.
Bolts by the Numbers
- Nikita Kucherov scored a goal and added three assists for his fifth four-point game of the season. Kucherov (38-64—102) became the first player in the NHL to hit the 100-point mark and just the fifth active player with at least four career 100-point seasons, joining Sidney Crosby (6), Connor McDavid (6), Leon Draisaitl (4) and Alex Ovechkin (4). Kucherov is one of only eight players since 1992-93 to hit 100 points in a single season in 59 or fewer games and one of just two active players to do so (also: McDavid).
- Kucherov has now recorded 122 career multi-assist games, passing Martin St. Louis (121) for the most in Lightning franchise history.
- Kucherov has now been the first player to hit the 100-point mark in two seasons (also: 2018-19), a feat that only eight players in NHL history have achieved (also: Wayne Gretzky, 9; Phil Esposito, 6; Mario Lemieux, 6; McDavid, 5; Jaromir Jagr, 4; Guy Lafleur, 3; Crosby, 2; Evgeni Malkin, 2).
- Brandon Hagel scored one goal and picked up two assists for his 15th multi-point game of the season. With his three-point afternoon, Hagel extended his career-long point streak to 13 games (9-11—20), which is the longest active streak among all NHL skaters and tied for the third-longest in Lightning franchise history. Hagel’s 13-game point streak is tied for the fifth-longest among all NHL skaters this season. He’s now up to 58 points on the campaign (22-36—58).
- Brayden Point scored one goal and added one assist for his 16th multi-point game of the season. Point has scored 30 goals in a single season four times, the fifth-most in Lightning franchise history. Point has found the scoresheet in six consecutive contests (5-3—8), tied for his longest point streak of the season. With nine goals over his last 13 games (9-15—14), Point is up to 62 points on the campaign (30-32—62).
- Victor Hedman scored one goal and picked up one assist for his 14th multi-point game of the season. Hedman has five points over his last two games (1-4—5) and 19 points over his last 16 contests (3-16—19). Hedman has now recorded 59 points this season (10-49—59).
Bolts Quotes
- Brandon Hagel: “It’s huge, obviously. We all understand where we’re at and this is crunch time. We need to play that way every single night if we want to get to where we want to get to and that's the playoffs. If we continue that, I have no worry in the world.”
- Jon Cooper: “A lot of things have worked. I think, first and foremost, it's our mindset and what it takes to win in the league and what it takes to win down the stretch. When you're going to go out and give up two goals a game and one goal a game, good things are going to happen. We're playing the right way. We're not cheating for offense. We're not beating ourselves and that's something we've done, especially on that homestead. We beat ourselves. Guys have made a conscious effort to make sure that's not happening, and you can see the results. We're playing the right way and we're scoring four a night. You do that and you give up two or less, good things are going to happen and that's what’s been happening.”
- Hagel: “I think it's everyone buying in. It is a 4-1 hockey game and Motter goes down there and blocks a shot with 30 seconds left. That's playoff hockey right there. The game is probably out of reach. He can probably let that one go by, but it shows the commitment at this level and the urgency and the want and the will to want to make playoffs.”
Krenner’s Three Stars
- Nikita Kucherov
- Brandon Hagel
- Victor Hedman
Lightning Look Ahead
- Tuesday, February 27 at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m. ET, Wells Fargo Center
- Thursday, February 29 vs. Buffalo Sabres, 7 p.m. ET, AMALIE Arena - Buy Tickets
- Saturday, March 2 vs. Montreal Canadiens, 7 p.m. ET, AMALIE Arena - Buy Tickets
