Johnson scores two goals, Lightning defeat Blackhawks

TAMPA -- Tyler Johnson scored two of four goals in the first period for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 4-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Amalie Arena on Friday.

Brayden Point scored his 15th goal, and Nikita Kucherov had three assists for the Lightning (16-6-1), who have won two games in a row and four of five. Louis Domingue made 30 saves, including 14 in the third period.
"We got off to a really good start," Johnson said. "When you get the lead early, it makes it a little bit easier to play the rest of the game. We felt good the way we were playing and kept on going."
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Tampa Bay is 14-0-2 in its past 16 regular-season games against Chicago.
Artem Anisimov and Jonathan Toews scored for the Blackhawks (8-10-5), who are 2-2-1 in their past five games. Corey Crawford made 25 saves.
"[The Lightning] are really great in their building, and they are going to make plays if you give them time and space," Toews said. "We kept leaving guys wide open in the slot, and they don't make mistakes when you do that."

Johnson gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead when he scored 29 seconds into the game on the first shift. He beat Crawford glove side with a wrist shot from the slot.
"We weren't as sharp as we needed to be on the first shift, and we dug ourselves a hole," Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton said. "I thought Corey gave us a chance to crawl back in the game and make it a game, but you can't chase it and expect to win."
Johnson made it 2-0 at 7:15 after Point set him up for a shot from the top of the crease.
"They were tough to handle," Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith said. "They came out hard. They've done that several times this season. We needed to be better. We definitely played better as the game went on."

Point extended the lead to 3-0 at 10:05 when he scored from the bottom of the right hash marks off a pass from Kucherov.
"Those were some pretty incredible plays by that line," Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "And a good job by us to be able to finish on those looks."
Anisimov got Chicago to within 3-1 at 11:10 when he scored on a backhand from in front of the net off the rebound of an Alex DeBrincat shot.
Blackhawks center Alexandre Fortin had a breakaway but broke his stick on his shot attempt at 13:15 of the first.
Ryan Callahan gave Tampa Bay a 4-1 lead at 14:52. He made a move to shake Chicago defenseman Erik Gustafsson before sending a wrist shot past Crawford.

"They scored, so it was good to get one right back," Callahan said. "It's a lot easier to play with the lead in this league, especially at home. It gets everybody going and gets a lot of energy through the building."
Toews extended his point streak to six games when he scored with 1:11 left in the second period to make it 4-2.

They said it

"I think the whole group was off in the first period. It seemed like shift after shift we were giving them space. There were mismatches, whether it was off the rush or in the defensive zone. I understand there's a transition between how they played in the past and how we're going to play now. But we've shown we can do it." -- Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton
"The last 11 minutes of the game we were short for seven of them with the two penalties and the last three with their goalie pulled. So it's tough when you are killing that much, and I thought the boys weathered the storm. That was obviously their biggest push of the game right there." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Need to know

Kucherov leads the Lightning with 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) and has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) during a five-game point streak. ...Toews has seven points (three goals, four assists) during his six-game point streak. ...The Lightning had 19 shots on goal in the first period and 10 in the second and third. ... Tampa Bay rookie defenseman Erik Cernak had two assists and was plus-3 in 16:45. ...Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane was minus-2 with five shots on goal in 21:46. ...Toews went 16-for-22 on face-offs (72.7 percent).

What's next

Blackhawks: At the Florida Panthers on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, NBCSCH, NHL.TV)
Lightning: Host the New Jersey Devils on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; SUN, MSG+, NHL.TV)