Goals, goals, goals.
They came from all over the ice in all three periods for the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday as Tampa Bay stormed to an 8-0 victory over Utah Hockey Club.
The Lightning scored twice in the first 4 minutes, 20 seconds of the game before adding four more scores in the second period and two more goals in period three.
Nikita Kucherov led the Lightning with a goal and three assists, while defenseman Victor Hedman had a goal and two helpers. Ryan McDonagh finished with two assists in his 1,000th NHL game.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for the shutout victory.
The Lightning are now 42-25-5 this season and close a three-game homestand on Saturday when the New York Islanders visit for a 2 p.m. matinee.
Scoring summary
First period
TBL 1, UTA 0
1:30 Jake Guentzel (35) - Nikita Kucherov, Ryan McDonagh
Tampa Bay flew to a 1-0 lead 90 seconds in on Thursday when Jake Guentzel found a rebound and scored near the left goalpost.
TBL 2, UTA 0
4:20 Victor Hedman (13) - JJ Moser, Brandon Hagel
Captain Victor Hedman made it 2-0 on Tampa Bay’s fourth shot of the game. Hedman took a pass from JJ Moser and scored on his shot from the left faceoff dot.
Shots on goal: TBL 7, UTA 5
Second period
TBL 3, UTA 0
5:05 Gage Goncalves (3) - Emil Lilleberg, Yanni Gourde
The Lightning pushed their lead to three goals on a netfront deflection by rookie Gage Goncalves following an Emil Lilleberg shot from the left point.
TBL 4, UTA 0
9:14 Kucherov (32) - Brayden Point, Darren Raddysh
Nikita Kucherov’s backhand shot midway through period two gave the Lightning a 4-0 advantage.
TBL 5, UTA 0
17:54 Guentzel (36) - Kucherov, Hedman - PP
Guentzel’s second goal of the game came on the power play after he skated to the front of the net from the right side and scored on a shot to the far post.
TBL 6, UTA 0
19:36 Oliver Bjorkstrand (18) - Gourde, McDonagh
Tampa Bay rounded out another successful period with a one-timer goal from the slot by Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Shots on goal: TBL 10, UTA 8
Third period
TBL 7, UTA 0
8:59 Point (36) - Kucherov, Hedman
Point scored his 36th goal of the season by batting a rebound out of mid-air near the net after Kucherov’s initial shot hit the right post.
TBL 8, UTA 0
14:54 Bjorkstrand (19) - Nick Perbix
Bjorkstrand’s first multi-goal game with the Lightning came via a wrist shot from distance with five minutes left in the game.
Total shots: UTA 25, TBL 21
