Lightning sweep Flyers in home-and-home, win 10th straight

PHILADELPHIA -- Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist for his ninth straight multipoint game, and the Tampa Bay Lightning swept a home-and-home with the Philadelphia Flyers for their 10th straight win, 5-1 at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday.

Brandon Hagel and Jake Guentzel each also had a goal and an assist, Brayden Point and Pontus Holmberg scored, and Jonas Johansson made 20 saves for Tampa Bay (28-13-3), which won 7-2 here on Saturday.

The winning streak is tied for the second-longest in Lightning history and also ties the Colorado Avalanche (twice) and Buffalo Sabres for the longest in the NHL this season.

"When you win 10 in a row, everyone's got to do their job," Hagel said. "Obviously, we got saves when we needed them, 'PK' when we needed it, power play when we needed it, and I think that's a big part of why we're on the streak we are."

Point left the game and did not return after scoring a power-play goal at 4:29 of the second period to give the Lightning a 3-0 lead. On the play, Flyers defenseman Cam York fell on Point's right leg, resulting in the forward needing to be helped off the ice.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper did not have an update after the game but said Point was cleared to travel with the team to Pittsburgh for their game against the Penguins on Tuesday.

"I think we all saw (what happened), so let's see when he gets looked at," Cooper said. "It's a tough turnaround for us tonight because we have to head to Pittsburgh and play tomorrow, but hopefully we can get him looked at.

"Unfortunately for us this year we've seen a lot of that. The tough part for 'Pointer' is his game had really turned the corner, and it seemed like he was scoring every night for us. Let's talk about the elephant in the room, there's a big tournament coming up in a month (Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026), and he's a big part of [Team Canada]. So, let's just hope everything turns out all right."

Hagel called it a "scary feeling" seeing Point helped off the ice.

"Especially when you see the way he went down and the way he grabbed whatever it was," he said. "That's scary, but hopefully he'll be OK and back at it again."

Christian Dvorak scored, and Dan Vladar made 21 saves for Philadelphia (22-14-8), which lost its third straight game (0-2-1).

"Two tough games for us," Flyers captain Sean Couturier said. "I think we have a lot of work to do to get to that level. They're a pretty experienced team that plays the right way and sticks to their game plan. That's something we can learn. I still believe in this group, that we can get there, just have to put in the work and get to that level."

Holmberg gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 1:10 of the first period when he knocked a loose puck in the slot past a heavily screened Vladar five-hole.

Guentzel scored 33 seconds into the second period, redirecting Erik Cernak's one-timer from the left point to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead.

After Point pushed the lead even further, Dvorak got the Flyers on the board to make it 3-1 at 5:40. He kept the puck on a 2-on-1 rush with defenseman Nick Seeler and scored on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.

Hagel put the Lightning ahead 4-1 at 19:29 with a power-play goal from the left face-off circle, shooting through traffic and beating Vladar over his glove with a wrist shot.

Kucherov scored an empty-net goal at 16:39 of the third period for the 5-1 final.

It was the first time that the Flyers had lost two straight in regulation since Nov. 1-2.

"Other than tonight, after losses we've bounced back," Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said. "You look at (the other) team, I'm not comparing us to Tampa, but they lost six [of] seven at the start of the season. Lots of teams have lost a lot in a row and we haven't. So, we've got to stop the slide. We need some healthy bodies. I don't know if we're going to get some guys (back), but some guys have to step up for us and play a smarter game."

NOTES: It was the 600th win for Cooper. He's the 25th NHL coach to reach the milestone, and he did it in his 1,005th game, the second-fastest in League history, behind Scotty Bowman (1,002 games). He's also the third to do it with one team, joining with Al Arbour (740 wins with the New York Islanders) and Lindy Ruff (631 with the Buffalo Sabres). ... Kucherov has 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) during a 10-game point streak. His run of nine straight multipoint games is tied with Steven Stamkos (2021-22) for the longest among active players. ... Tampa Bay defenseman Darren Raddysh had two assists and has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) during a six-game point streak. ... Hagel has 10 points (four goals, six assists) during a six-game point streak. ... Guentzel has eight points (two goals, six assists) during a five-game point streak. ... Dvorak has four points (one goal, three assists) during a season-long four-game point streak.