Lightning score four unanswered goals, defeat Jets

TAMPA -- Nikita Kucherov had two assists to tie the Tampa Bay Lightning record for most points in a season during a 5-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.

Kucherov, the NHL leader with 108 points (31 goals, 77 assists), tied Vincent Lecavalier (56 goals, 52 assists in 2006-07).
"It's OK," Kucherov said of the record. "I just try to work on my game every day and see what happens, but it's good. I like it."
WATCH: [All Jets vs. Lightning highlights]
The Lightning (51-12-4), who are 12-1-0 in their past 13 games and 14-1-2 in their past 17, lead the NHL with 106 points and lead the Boston Bruins by 17 points for first in the Atlantic Division. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves for his 10th consecutive win.
"They are a heavy team, have some big guys," Kucherov said. "We just wanted to come out and play hard. They are a top team out there, and we lost to Boston (4-1 on the road Thursday) so we wanted to bounce back against a really good team like Winnipeg."

Blake Wheeler and Jacob Trouba scored for the Jets (39-23-4), who are one point behind the Nashville Predators for first place in the Central Division with three games in hand. Winnipeg is 3-5-1 in its past nine games.
Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves for the Jets and left the game briefly late in the second period after a shot from Kucherov hit him in the mask. Laurent Brossoit gave up a goal on two shots.
"[Hellebuyck] was awesome, he was really good tonight and gave us a chance," Wheeler said. "Obviously some unfortunate circumstances, but he fought until the end for us."
Yanni Gourde gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 1:34 of the first period off an outlet pass from Ondrej Palat.

Wheeler tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal off a cross-ice pass by Patrik Laine at 6:31.
Adam Erne made it 2-1 on a one-timer from the right face-off circle at 8:58 of the second period.
"It's been a while and you want to put pucks in the back of the net," said Erne, who had gone 26 games without a goal and had an assist. "I feel I've been playing well and it was nice to be able to put one in."
Steven Stamkos scored on a one-timer from the left dot on the power play to make it 3-1 at 14:26.
"Obviously you give them power plays and they are going to make you pay," Jets center Mark Scheifele said of the Lightning, who were 2-for-4 with the man-advantage. "They have a lot of skill. Their structure is really good, and they've got some really good players in it. It's tough to stop."
Cedric Paquette made it 4-1 at 4:20 of the third period.

Brayden Point scored on the power play to make it 5-1 at 9:50.
"I thought we jumped on them early and dictated a lot of play for the most part until the very end," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "But it was a pretty solid game for us."
Trouba made it 5-2 at 15:03 when he tried to dump the puck in from center ice but it bounced off the right boards and in. Vasilevskiy had gone behind the net, waiting for the puck to come around the boards.
"They played a good game," Trouba said. "They are fast, they are physical and they don't need much time or space to make a play."

Lightning forward Mathieu Joseph had two assists, and the fourth line of Erne, Joseph and Paquette combined for two goals and three assists.
"It's really good for us and it's going to be really important come playoff time to get production from all four lines," Erne said. "Can't just rely on the top guys all the time."

They said it

"They got way more to the net than we did. … We did have some chances and just didn't get some pucks to the net." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice
"I think it was a lot of guys tonight. [Stamkos] had gone a few games without one and Gourde chips one in, then [Paquette] and Erne, the power play got a couple. When you get confidence and depth scoring, it can do nothing but help you come the spring." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Need to know

The Lightning became the first team in NHL history to have multiple goalies each with a winning streak of 10 or more games in a season. Backup goalie Louis Domingue had an 11-game streak from Nov. 28-Feb. 19. … Wheeler has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in a seven-game point streak. … Point has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in his past 12 games. … Tampa Bay has outscored opponents 54-26 in its past 13 games.

What's next

Jets:At the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, FS-CR, TSN3, NHL.TV)
Lightning:Host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, FS-N, NHL.TV)