Lightning score seven against Avalanche for sixth straight win

TAMPA --Steven Stamkos had two goals and two assists for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 7-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Amalie Arena on Saturday.

Ondrej Palat scored two goals, and Tyler Johnson had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay (23-7-1), which has won six straight and nine of its past 10 games. Louis Domingue made 29 saves.
"I thought we set the tone right from the first shift," Stamkos said. "Nikita Kucherov] went out and got a big hit behind their net. The bench responded, and it was game on from there. Special teams kind of propelled us early, and we just never looked back. It was a fun to be a part of."
[WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Lightning highlights]
Nathan MacKinnon scored for Colorado (17-8-5), which has lost two of its past three games. Semyon Varlamov allowed five goals on 23 shots. He was replaced in the second period by Philipp Grubauer, who made 13 saves.
"It's disappointing," Avalanche center Tyson Jost said. "We needed to be a lot better than we were tonight. Everyone knows that."
Stamkos gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 3:05 of the first period with a power-play goal. He extended the lead to 2-0 at 13:15, scoring with a backhand on a breakaway.

"We played well tonight," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "It was quite a contrast from the last time we played them. Things went our way, but we felt like we deserved for them to go our way. We didn't give them time and space at all."
MacKinnon scored his 20th goal to cut it to 2-1 at 14:14, but Johnson got a rebound at the top of the crease to make it 3-1 at 16:26.
"[Colorado's top line of MacKinnon-Gabriel Landeskog-Mikko Rantanen] is dominating the League right now, and we had to be really good defensively and try to stay above them," Johnson said. "We had to make sure that whatever chances they got they had to go through us to earn them."
Alex Killorn converted a cross-crease pass from Yanni Gourde to make it 4-1 at 2:00 of the second period.
"I think we made it real easy for them," Grubauer said. "Best team in the League. Best home ice (13-4-0). We didn't live up to the challenge tonight. I don't think there's any positive we could take out of this game."

Palat scored his first goal of the season off a cross-ice pass to make it 5-1 at 7:59, and Anthony Cirelli got a rebound at the right post to extend the lead to 6-1 at 10:01.
"We took a couple of early [penalties] and it gives them life," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "We just have to be more disciplined. It's a team thing for sure. We just weren't ready to play and compete the way we normally are. It showed from the start."
Palat scored into an open net on a power play at 3:29 of the third period to make it 7-1.
"It feels good, it's nice to get those first ones," Palat said. "I'm happy with the way the team played, especially against a very good team."

They said it

"[Tampa Bay] is number one in the League right now I think. They proved why tonight." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar
"I think you look at lines 1-4 and everyone contributed, everyone played extremely well, and everyone had chances. That's what you want and that's what our team is all about." -- Lightning forward Tyler Johnson

Need to know

Stamkos has 13 regular-season with at least four points, the most in Lightning history. … Rantanen had an assist and has 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) during an 11-game point streak. … It was the 17th time MacKinnon, Rantanen and Landeskog had a point on the same goal this season. … Johnson has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past five games. … Kucherov has 26 points (five goals, 21 assists) in his past 13 games. …Avalanche forward Vladislav Kamenev left the game at 8:21 of the first period with an upper-body injury. … MacKinnon became the second player in Avalanche history to score 20 goals in the team's first 30 games (Joe Sakic, 1995-96).

What's next

Avalanche:Host the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, SNW, NHL.TV)
Lightning:Host the New York Rangers on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, MSG, NHL.TV)