Lightning rally past Avalanche, win 8th in row 

TAMPA -- Brandon Hagel scored the go-ahead goal and had an assist for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won their eighth straight game with a 4-2 victory against the Colorado Avalanche at Benchmark International Arena on Tuesday.

Nikita Kucherov had two assists, extending his point streak to eight games and his multipoint streak to seven for the Lightning (26-13-3), who are on their longest winning streak of the season. Darren Raddysh also had two assists to give him a four-game multipoint streak, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves.

"In the end, I thought we defended pretty well, when adversity hit we responded, the power play scored, the penalty kill was great," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "All the little areas that could've been a chink in the armor, the boys stood strong. That's a really good team and you see why they have the record they have."

Brock Nelson and Parker Kelly scored for the NHL-leading Avalanche (31-4-7), who have lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season. Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves.

Colorado finished 1-2-0 on a three-game road trip, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 on Saturday before losing to the Florida Panthers 2-1 on Sunday.

"Tough road trip, no doubt about it. Three good teams," Wedgewood said. "Obviously, we want as many points as possible, but I think either one of those (losses) coming down to the wire you could've stolen two or four more."

Hagel put Tampa Bay ahead 3-2 at 8:31 of the third period, scoring with a one-timer from the right face-off circle to the short side off a backhand pass from Max Crozier.

"Those are fun games to play in and obviously you can sit and probably say any team could've won, but it came down to the next goal and we were able to find it," Hagel said. "They've got an incredible team over there, but we've got an incredible team here."

Jake Guentzel gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead by scoring a power-play goal with 12 seconds left in the first period. Kucherov found him open below the right face-off circle, and he flipped the puck over Wedgewood's stick.

Kelly tied it 1-1 at 3:22 of the second period when he scored in front after Zakhar Bardakov fed him with a pass through the crease from behind Vasilevskiy.

"I thought we skated well tonight. I thought we definitely had more energy tonight than we did against Florida," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "And this team is playing real well. … This is a team that moves and plays with pace, so I thought we did a real good job there. Sometimes it happens. You come up a little short. Now we have to regroup."

Nelson put the Avalanche ahead 2-1 at 9:31 with a shot from the left circle that deflected off the stick of Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak. The goal came three seconds after a Tampa Bay power play expired.

"A lot of the game was spent in a neutral zone and a little in our end, but it just starts with us moving our feet, getting in position and supporting each other," Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar said. "Overall, these past two games, we were there for the most part. … Just a couple of bad bounces in unfortunate spots."

Zemgus Girgensons tied it 2-2 from in front at 17:22, redirecting Yanni Gourde’s pass out of the right circle.

"I just tried crashing the net and hoped for the best," Girgensons said. "‘Gourdo’ put it right on the tape."

After Hagel put the Lightning ahead with his 20th goal of the season, Anthony Cirelli scored an empty-net goal at 18:35 of the third for the 4-2 final.

"If you want to be the best you've got to beat the best," Hagel said. "And I think that's what we did tonight."

NOTES: Kucherov has 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) during his point streak and 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) during his multipoint streak. He had the 300th multipoint game of his career and joined Steven Stamkos (307) as the only players in Lightning history to reach the mark. ... Raddysh has nine points (four goals, five assists) during his multipoint streak. He is the first defenseman in Tampa Bay history with a multipoint streak this long. … Hagel has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a four-game point streak. ... Before the game, Cooper was honored for coaching his 1,000th NHL game with a tribute video narrated by Hockey Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman. Cooper coached the milestone game Wednesday, a 4-3 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks. The video featured messages from Stamkos, the former Lightning captain, now of the Nashville Predators; Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky; and Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, among others. ... Nelson has nine points (five goals, four assists) during a six-game point streak. He won 16 of 21 face-offs Tuesday.