Two of the NHL’s premier teams at the midway point of the 2025-26 season met at Benchmark International Arena on Tuesday night, and the matchup did not disappoint.
The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the league-leading Colorado Avalanche 4-2 to extend their win streak to an NHL-best eight games.
“In the end, I thought we defended pretty well. When adversity hit, we responded. The power play scored, the penalty kill was great. So, all the little areas where there could have been a chink in the armor, the boys stood strong, and we’re sitting here with another win,” coach Jon Cooper said postgame. “That's a really, really good team. I see why they have the record they have.”
Brandon Hagel picked a good time to score his 20th goal of the season on Tuesday, making it the game-winning tally 8:31 into the third period to break a 2-2 tie.
Hagel one-timed his shot from the right faceoff circle to bury a pass from defenseman Max Crozier after Nikita Kucherov had won a puck battle in the corner against a pair of Colorado players.
“Kuch was kind of doing his thing in the corner, and I was just standing in front of the net, expecting something to happen right away,” Hagel said of what he saw on the play. “Obviously he brings two guys to him, Crow is on top of the puck, and I just was able to open up, and Crow made a good backhand awareness play, and I was able to put it in the net.”
Tampa Bay became just the fourth team to beat Colorado in regulation this season and improved their own record to 26-13-3 in the process.
The teams played a tight, back-and-forth first period that nearly ended scoreless before Lightning forward Jake Guentzel played spoiler on a late power play.
Guentzel accepted a pass from Kucherov on the right side of the Avalanche net near the goal line, stepped to the bottom of the faceoff circle and slipped his shot under the arm of Colorado goalie Scott Wedgewood with only 12 seconds remaining in the first period.
The Avalanche tied the game 3:22 into the second period when forward Parker Kelly buried a loose puck in the slot, and they took their first lead 9:31 into the frame when Brock Nelson’s shot from the left faceoff circle went off Erik Cernak’s stick and found the top corner of the net to make it 2-1.
Lightning forward Zemgus Girgensons tied the game late in the middle frame for the home team, fighting to gain inside positioning on an Avalanche defenseman before potting the puck on a pass from Yanni Gourde after the latter faked his shot from the right faceoff circle with 2:38 remaining in the period.
“It was big,” Girgensons said of getting the tying goal late in the second. “It was a great play by (Pontus Holmberg), and an unbelievable play by Gourdo. I just had to tap it in…I just tried crashing the net there and hoped for the best, and Gourdo put it right on the tape.”
Anthony Cirelli added an empty-net goal for the final 4-2 score. Kucherov and Darren Raddysh each had two assists to co-lead the Lightning in scoring alongside Hagel, who finished with a goal and assist.
Raddysh on Tuesday became the first defenseman in franchise history to post four consecutive multi-point games, while the game marked the seventh straight multi-point effort for Kucherov.
Tampa Bay can push its win streak to nine games when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday. Tampa Bay last won nine consecutive games in the 2019-20 season, when they had win streaks of 10 and 11 games.
The Lightning play the Flyers twice in three days on the road, and they’ll aim to take their positive energy with them.
“It’s good,” Girgensons said of the team’s attitude right now. “The schedule is one game home, then we’re back on the road. It’s good anytime you can win that many in a row, but we’re taking it game by game, and that’s what’s been successful.”
Hagel also said the Lightning are capitalizing on strong play and confidence right now.
“I think everyone’s just buying in,” Hagel said of the team’s run. “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. That's kind of what's going on here.”
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- Brandon Hagel, TBL (Game-winning goal, assist)
- Nikita Kucherov, TBL (2 assists)
- Zemgus Girgensons, TBL (Goal)
