Lightning strike with 5 unanswered goals, zap Flames 7-4

Associated Press

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Led by a big night by Alex Killorn, Tampa Bay took advantage of a rare off-night by Mike Smith.

Killorn had two goals and two assists to tie a career high for points as the Lightning struck for five unanswered goals, including four in the third period, in a 7-4 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

Down 4-3 after two periods, Tampa Bay tied it 12 seconds into the third when Killorn pounced on a loose puck near the Flames face-off dot, spun and sent a backhander on net that slipped past Smith.

"The puck hasn't really been falling my way for a lot of the season, so to have a game like this, it's great and gets my confidence back," said Killorn, who had just three points over his previous 16 games.

Killorn's line with rookies Matthew Peca (one goal, two assists) and Yanni Gourde (two assists) combined for nine points.

"Early in the game, that line was really engaged," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "And you know how it is, they get one and all of a sudden, it's like the balloon pops and now they've got the vibes going."

Cory Conacher scored on a sharp angle at 5:16 to give the Lightning the lead for good at 5-4.

Just over a minute later, Steven Stamkos scored his 19th of the season and that was it for Smith. As he got the hook from coach Glen Gulutzan for David Rittich, Smith smashed his stick across the goalpost.

"It was disappointing to let your teammates down like that and lay an egg," Smith said. "Just too many bad goals. It's plain and simple."

Smith entered the night sixth in the NHL with a .925 save percentage.

"What are we in, game 51? It's the first time our goaltending couldn't be considered a star in the game," Gulutzan said.

Conacher's second of the night at 8:26, on a shot from below the goal line, capped the third-period surge. Braydon Coburn and Matthew Peca also scored for Tampa Bay, which maintained its one-point lead over Vegas atop the overall standings.

Micheal Ferland, Mikael Backlund, Sean Monahan and Matt Stajan scored for Calgary. After a seven-game winning streak, the Flames are winless in their last six (0-4-2).

"We're going through a tough patch right now. There's no doubt about it," Stajan said. "Adversity has hit. We have to stick together in these walls and get through this."

The Lightning improved to 4-2-0 on this stretch of eight straight games on the road. They play in Vancouver on Saturday.

"We needed to have a look in the mirror," Stamkos said, "and come out with a lot more urgency and compete after the Winnipeg game (3-1 loss) and I thought we did that."

Tied at 1, the Lightning took their first lead 2:04 into the second period when Killorn scored on the power play.

The lead was short-lived with Calgary roaring back with three straight goals to open up a 4-2 advantage.

After sitting in the penalty box on Killorn's goal, Backlund made up for it on his next shift with a beautiful solo effort to tie it at 2 at 3:38. After crossing the Lightning blue line, he deked around Mikhail Sergachev with a nifty toe-drag, then promptly ripped a wrist shot into the top corner.

Less than two minutes later, Monahan gave Calgary the 3-2 lead, and Stajan added his second of the season at 14:27.

Smith stopped just 21 of 27 shots to fall to 20-15-6. Rittich made three saves.

Andrei Vasilevskiy, who improved to 30-9-2, had 42 saves.

NOTES: Calgary was 50-0-3 when leading after two dating to last season, but has lost two games in a row in regulation in which it led after 40 minutes. ... Calgary has had the lead in each game in its skid. ... Ferland has scored the first goal in a game five times, which leads the team.

UP NEXT

Lightning: at Vancouver on Saturday night.

Flames: vs. Chicago on Saturday night

Hutchinson wins 1st start of season, Jets top Lightning 3-1

Associated Press

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) -- Michael Hutchinson wasn't about to miss his chance to play in an All-Star Game, albeit in the minor leagues.

Even if that meant arriving in Winnipeg only seven hours before a rare appearance in net for the Jets.

Hutchinson made 23 saves in his first NHL start of the season to help Winnipeg beat the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Both teams let their starting goaltenders - ranked first and second in wins - have a night off after they took part in last weekend's NHL All-Star festivities at Tampa Bay.

Hutchinson was replacing Connor Hellebuyck after his own All-Star appearance - in the AHL showcase Monday at Utica, New York. Hutchinson said he took a 7 a.m. flight through Chicago, slept on the plane and got into Winnipeg just before noon.

"It's my eighth year of pro hockey and I've never played in an All-Star Game before," he said after his 100th NHL game. "They don't happen every year.

"So who knows? I might never get another chance to play in one. So I felt it was a good opportunity where I could make it and do both. I felt I could have success in both games."

Hutchinson was sent to the Manitoba Moose after training camp and acknowledged after his recent recall that he was upset by the move.

"You always have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder with the way the season's been going, but when you're out there you don't think about it at all," he said after the game.

Patrik Laine scored his team-leading 23rd goal for the Jets (30-13-8). Kyle Connor and Bryan Little also scored, and Blake Wheeler had two assists.

It was the first of 10 straight home games for the Jets, who have won seven in a row at Bell MTS Place and are 18-3-1 there this season.

Rookie forward Matthew Peca scored for Tampa Bay (34-13-3), which had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Louis Domingue played his 10th game of the season for the Lightning in place of NHL-leading goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and stopped 34 shots.

The Lightning had a welcome addition to the roster with defenseman Victor Hedman back for his first game since injuring a knee on Jan. 11. He was expected to miss three to six weeks and had sat out five games.

Hedman, who played 25 minutes, said he felt good but expected better. His teammates were happy to see him back.

"He's a guy you can't replace," forward Tyler Johnson said. "We thought it was going to be a lot worse, and then you see him come back at three weeks. He's a guy that works extremely hard. He rehabs hard."

The Jets were starting a stretch without defenseman Jacob Trouba, who's out six to eight weeks with an ankle injury.

Playing his fourth NHL game this season, Peca took a slick pass from Brayden Point and put a shot past Hutchinson with 29 seconds left in the first period. Peca had been invited to the AHL All-Star Game, but decided not to go. He was called up from Syracuse on Jan. 21 for the first time this season after playing 10 games with the Lightning last year.

Winnipeg got a two-man advantage early in the second after Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn went off for tripping at 2:43 and teammate Chris Kunitz followed with a delay of game 12 seconds later.

Wheeler sent a cross-ice pass to Laine in the middle of the faceoff circle 35 seconds later and he ripped a high shot past Domingue at 3:30 to tie it 1-all. It was his 12th power-play goal of the season.

Eight seconds after another Winnipeg power play was over, Connor scored his 16th when he jammed the puck in during a scramble in front at 8:35.

Little's goal off a rebound with 5:25 left in the third had the crowd roaring. Tampa Bay soon went on a power play, but Alex Killorn rang a shot off the post.

Jets coach Paul Maurice wasn't making any predictions about Hutchinson's role down the road, saying his team's depth in the crease is key.

"The backup role is very unforgiving, so you need to go in and have success," he said. "(Hutchinson) was here when we got real young for a couple years and it was tough standing in between the pipes certain nights and his numbers reflected that. Now, he got to play behind a pretty good team tonight, as well, and against a good team and he played well."

NOTES: The Jets were 1 for 4 on the power play and the Lightning 0 for 4.

UP NEXT

Lightning: At the Calgary Flames on Thursday.

Jets: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.

Lightning score 3 times in 2nd period, top Flyers 5-1

By DAN GELATIN
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson walked to center ice to a standing ovation from fans still going wild about their favorite football team playing in the Super Bowl.

The Eagles will likely provide the only celebratory sports bash in Philly this year.

Once Pederson dropped the puck, the Lightning flashed a forceful reminder why the best team in the NHL is in Tampa Bay.

Brayden Point, Yanni Gourde and Ryan Callahan each scored in the second period to lead Tampa Bay over the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 on Thursday night, helping the Lightning head into the All-Star break with the best record in the NHL.

Vladislav Namestnikov scored twice late in the third to turn this one into a rout.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 36 shots.

"He's unreal every game," Namestnikov said. "He was solid back there again, and he's a big reason why we won again."

The Flyers pulled the goalie with 7:20 left and got a 6-on-4 goal from Travis Konency. But otherwise the Flyers had nothing for Vasilevskiy and were booed off the ice by a fan base suddenly expecting excellence each time out.

The Lightning are off to their best start in franchise history and top the NHL with 34 wins and 71 points as the league gets set to take a lengthy break. Tampa Bay's stars have little time to rest: Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Vasilevskiy were named to the All-Star team. Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman was scratched from the game because of injury and was replaced by Point.

"We like where we are in the standings," Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman said. "We've been in a tough stretch and we haven't really found our game. But we're getting back to it. If you take out that first period tonight, we did a lot of good things the last 40."

Tampa Bay was upset at home by the Flyers in December at a time when Philadelphia was not far removed from a 10-game losing streak. The Flyers have turned the season around since, winning four straight and eight of nine heading into Thursday's game. That all ended with a thud against the class of the NHL.

"Hopefully this is a little bit of a wake-up call for the boys," Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds said.

The Lightning - who led the league in goals per game at 3.50 entering Thursday - used three goals in the second to send the Flyers into the break on a loss and leave them in the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference playoff standings.

Point snapped a scoreless game 25 second into the second on a backhand move to beat Michal Neuvirth for his 20th goal. Gourde pounded in a rebound for his 17th, and Callahan added a short-handed score to make it 3-0.

"We used our speed better, we came out together," Gourde said. "In the second period, we really took our speed and took advantage of that and put the puck deep. We went to work. That was the biggest difference."

Neuvirth got the start with No. 1 goalie Brian Elliott sidelined with an undisclosed injury.

Flyers captain Claude Giroux, their lone All-Star, said the team was set to make a serious playoff push.

"It's frustrating to go into a break like this, but you've got to look at what we've been doing for a month or so," he said.

NOTES: Pederson wore a No. 18 Flyers jersey. "It's great to see how this city is behind them," Giroux said. "We're rooting for them." ... The Flyers recalled G Alex Lyon from their AHL team, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. ... Tampa Bay wrapped a four-game road trip. ... The loss snapped a five-game home winning streak for the Flyers. It was their first defeat on home ice since January 2.

UP NEXT

Tampa Bay returns Tuesday at Winnipeg.

The Flyers play Wednesday at Washington.

–––

More AP hockey: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey

Fleury, Golden Knights beat Lightning 4-1

By MARK DIDTLER
Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Marc-Andre Fleury and Vegas Golden Knights went on the road and posted a big win against another Stanley Cup contender.

This expansion team is showing no signs of slowing down.

Fleury made 28 saves, David Perron had a goal and an assist, and the Golden Knights beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 Thursday night in a matchup of conference leaders.

"A great statement," Vegas winger James Neal said.

Neal, Nate Schmidt and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights, who swept the two-game season series with the NHL-leading Lightning.

"They are a great challenge for us, the best team in the league," Fleury said. "We had a great game. The guys held the puck, took their timing away."

The Golden Knights needed just 44 games to become the fifth team in NHL history to reach 30 wins during its inaugural season. Anaheim and Florida share the expansion record with 33 wins, both coming in 84 games in the 1993-94 season.

Tampa Bay, coming off its bye week, got a goal from Ondrej Palat, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26 shots. Vasilevskiy, an All-Star this season, has allowed 19 goals over his last four games.

"As a leader, I have to be a lot better and set an example," said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who was minus-3. "Our line didn't do that and I take responsibility for that."

Fleury made a number of impressive stops, including a left-circle shot by Stamkos and in-close chance from Nikita Kucherov during the second period. The goalie, who spent most of his career with Pittsburgh, is 19-11-4 against the Lightning.

Neal opened the scoring with a nifty deflection 56 seconds into the first, and Schmidt made it 2-0 with 3:57 left in the period. Deryk Engelland got his 100th NHL assist on Neal's goal.

Vegas is 19-1-0 when scoring first, with the lone loss coming Oct. 30 to the New York Islanders.

After Palat got a power-play goal midway through the second, Perron put the Golden Knights up 3-1 late in the period.

Karlsson got his 24th goal 18 seconds into the third.

"We didn't put up a fight and that's on us," Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman said.

NOTES: Neal has 11 goals and 19 points in 18 games against Tampa Bay. ... Palat stopped a 21-game goal drought. ... Lightning D Dan Girardi, hit on the back of the neck by a slap shot Jan. 7 against Detroit, was back in the lineup. ... Golden Knights C Cody Eakin played after sitting out one game with an undisclosed injury.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Play at Florida Friday night.

Lightning: Play the first of eight straight road games Saturday night at Minnesota.

Hedman out 3-6 weeks for Lightning

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman will be out 3-6 weeks because of a lower-body injury.

Hedman was injured when he banged knees with Calgary Flames forward Garnet Hathaway during the Lightning's 5-1 loss Thursday. Hedman was helped off the ice at 6:13 of the second period.

Hedman was one of four Lightning players selected to participate in the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Game at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Jan. 28 (3:30 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVA Sports), along with center Steven Stamkos, forward Nikita Kucherov and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Hedman, 27, has 33 points (six goals, 27 assists) with a plus-24 rating in 44 games this season. The No. 2 pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, he has 334 points (71 goals, 263 assists) in 593 games through nine seasons, all with the Lightning.

Tampa Bay's loss to the Flames was the last game before its League-mandated break, which lasts six days. The Lightning resume play against the Vegas Golden Knights at Amalie Arena on Thursday.

Flames beat NHL-leading Lightning 5-1 for 5th straight win

By MARK DIDTLER
Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- The surging Calgary Flames got balanced scoring and another win.

Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist, Mike Smith made 33 saves, and the Flames beat the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.

"A big confidence boost for our group, and keep the winning streak alive," Smith said.

Micheal Ferland, Sam Bennett, Mark Jankowski and Matthew Tkachuk also scored to help the Flames improve to 11-5-4 on the road. Gaudreau has nine assists and 10 points during a five-game points streak.

"A lot of guys were contributing chances and everybody was responsible defensively," Tkachuk said.

Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay.

The Lightning lost All-Star defenseman Victor Hedman midway through the second with a lower-body injury. Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper offered no update but said Hedman will undergo tests Friday.

"We'll see the extent of what's wrong," Cooper said. "No reason to speculate."

Hedman was hit on side of his left knee during a collision with Calgary's Garnet Hathaway and needed assistance to the locker room. On Tuesday night against Carolina, Hedman could not put any weight on his left skate heading to the bench with three minutes left in the second but returned two minutes later.

Ferland opened the scoring 29 seconds into the game during a 2-on-1 off a pass from Sean Monahan. Ferland added an assist and has a four-game points streak (four goals, eight points), while Monahan has points in five straight (five assists, eight points).

After Point scored 31 seconds into the second, the Flames took a 3-1 lead on goals by Gaudreau at 16:48 and Bennett on the power-play 1:55 later.

Tampa Bay's Cedric Paquette failed to score on a penalty shot at 5:15 of the second.

Jankowski and Tkachuk had third-period goals.

"Got two big goals at the end of the second to give us some breathing room," Smith said. "Then, I thought that was one of better third periods with a lead this year."

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 shots.

NOTES: Gaudreau has 51 points in 43 games. His 14th goal stopped a 10-game goal drought. ... Tampa Bay D Dan Girardi, who took a slap shot to the back of the neck Sunday, missed his second straight game but could return after the Lightning's bye week. ... Flames RW Jaromir Jagr remains out with what the team calls a lower-body injury. He has missed 17 games, including the last four and 11 of the past 16.

UP NEXT

Flames: At Florida on Friday night.

Lightning: Off until Thursday night when they host Vegas for the first time.

Tyler Johnson has 3 goals, Lightning beat Hurricanes 5-4

By MARK DIDTLER
Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Tyler Johnson's slow start seems like a long time ago now.

Johnson had three goals, Jake Dotchin scored a tiebreaking goal midway through the third period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Tuesday night.

"Just being in the right spot at the right time," Johnson said.

NHL-leading Tampa Bay also got a goal from Victor Hedman, and Brayden Point had three assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

"It was a good game all around," Johnson said.

Justin Faulk, Elias Lindholm, Brock McGinn and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes. Cam Ward stopped 29 shots.

"It's tough," Faulk said. "They're at the top of the standings for a reason. When they get those leads, they do a pretty job of either building on them or keeping them."

Dotchin made it 4-3 with his first goal in 14 games at 9:27 of the third. Johnson then completed his third regular-season hat trick when he stole the puck from Noah Hanifin and scored from just outside the crease at 14:54.

"What a remarkable goal," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

Johnson has scored 12 of 16 goals since Dec. 1.

Lindholm scored with 1:18 left to cut it to 5-4, but Tampa Bay held on.

After Johnson's rebound backhand went into the net off Faulk's skate at 1:58 of the second, Faulk tied it at 3 with 9:24 left in the period on Carolina's second power-play goal.

The Hurricanes twice took one-goal leads, on scores by McGinn and Aho, in the first, but the period ended with the game tied at 2 due to goals by Hedman and Johnson.

Aho was in the lineup three days after leaving Saturday's 7-1 loss at Boston following a scary looking leg injury.

Chris Kunitz appeared to put Tampa Bay up 4-3 early in the third, but the goal was disallowed following a video replay that determined the play was offside.

The Lightning have gone two consecutive games without a power play. The Hurricanes converted two of four chances.

NOTES: Hedman could not put any weight on his left skate when he left the ice with three minutes left in the second, but he returned two minutes later. ... Tampa Bay D Dan Girardi, who took a slap shot off the back of his neck in Sunday's game at Detroit, took part in the pregame skate but didn't play. ... Carolina RW Lee Stempniak (upper-body injury) could make his NHL season debut this week. ... McGinn stopped an 18-game drought with his first-period goal on the power play. ... Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov assisted on Hedman's goal for his 60th point, coming in his 43rd game. Only Vincent Lecavalier, taking 41 games in 2007-08, reached 60 points quicker in Tampa Bay history.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Play Thursday night at Washington.

Lightning: Host Calgary Thursday night.

Lightning beat Red Wings 5-2, ending streaks for both teams

By LARRY LAGE
AP Hockey Writer

DETROIT (AP) -- Dan Girardi stood to block a blast, turned his head to the left and was hit above the shoulders by the puck.

He scored and assisted on a goal in the first period before leaving the game in the second period of the Tampa Bay Lightning's 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night.

"That was one of the scariest things I've ever seen," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "But Dan can still take it in stride and have light-hearted comments about it."

Detroit's Martin Frk took a shot on a power play and his one-timer appeared to hit Girardi in the neck. The defenseman lay face down on the ice while a doctor evaluated him on the ice and was eventually able to sit up. Girardi later skated slowly off the ice with teammates at his side and walked toward the dressing room.

"Hopefully everything is going to be OK," Cooper said. "He's just got to get a few tests here."

The game was very physical before Girardi went down with two fights, open-ice hits, checks into the boards along with a lot of pushing and shoving. When Girardi got up, players from both teams tapped their sticks on the ice and against the boards and the game was suddenly played without much contact.

"You don't even think about what team a guy is on after something like that," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "Your entire focus is on how he's doing."

Girardi assisted on Tyler Johnson's goal that put Tampa Bay up 2-0. Yanni Gourde and Nikita Kucherov restored two-goal leads in the second and third periods. Gourde added a second goal of the night late in the game, putting the Lightning ahead 5-2.

Louis Domingue stopped 34 shots for the NHL-leading Lightning, who avoided losing three straight for the first time this season.

"We had to make a push because we weren't happy with the last couple games," Johnson said. "We wanted to get off to a good start."

Cooper was proud of his team's effort, ending a five-game road trip with back-to-back games.

"This was an easy one to mail in," he said.

Gustav Nyquist and Justin Abdelkader scored in the second and third period to pull the Red Wings within a goal, but they didn't come close to extending their season-high, four-game winning streak.

"We're optimistic in here," Nyquist insisted. "We talked about it here the last couple weeks. I think we all think that we're a better team at this point this year than we were last year."

Detroit's Petr Mrazek made 19 saves, filling in for Jimmy Howard, who was out with a lower-body injury.

NOTES: The crowd roared when Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman, a former Red Wing star, was shown on the videoboards in the third period. ... The Red Wings were 0 for 4 on the power play, including a pair of brief two-man advantages. ... Gourde had a Gordie Howe hat trick with two goals, assist and the first fight of his NHL career in the same city where the late Hall of Famer played most of his career. "It's pretty funny," Gourde said. "I wasn't going into the game thinking I was going to get into a fight." ... The Lightning signed the 33-year-old Girardi on July 1 after the New York Rangers bought out the final three years his contract, clearing just under $2.9 million in salary-cap space this season and almost $1.9 million the two following years.

UP NEXT

Lightning: Host Carolina on Tuesday night.

Red Wings: Begin a bye, resting until playing Saturday at Pittsburgh. "It is good to have a break because we can refresh our bodies and refresh our minds," Zetterberg said.

NHL announces Head coaches for NHL All-Star Game

NEW YORK – The National Hockey League announced today that Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning (Atlantic), Peter Laviolette of the Nashville Predators (Central), Barry Trotz of the Washington Capitals (Metropolitan) and Gerard Gallant of the Vegas Golden Knights (Pacific) will serve as the head coaches for the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, which will be held Jan. 28-29 at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
 
Under the All-Star selection process, the head coach of the team with the highest points percentage (points earned divided by total possible points) in each of the four divisions through games of Saturday, Jan. 6 – the halfway point of the regular season – will guide the respective All-Star rosters.

Cooper’s Lightning (.744, 29-9-3) posted the top points percentage in the Atlantic Division through games of Saturday, while Laviolette's Predators (.659, 24-11-6), Trotz’ Capitals (.646, 25-13-3) and Gallant’s Golden Knights (.725, 28-10-2) similarly wrapped up the highest points percentages in the Central, Metropolitan and Pacific Divisions, respectively.

Cooper, Laviolette, Trotz and Gallant join Lightning forward Steven Stamkos (Atlantic), Predators defenseman P.K. Subban (Central), Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (Metropolitan) and Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (Pacific), who were voted by fans as captains for the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend.

For the third straight season, the All-Star Game will feature a three-game tournament, played in a 3-on-3 format, showcasing teams from each NHL division. Each of the four teams will include six forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders.

The remaining 40 All-Stars, determined by the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department, will be announced Wednesday, Jan. 10.

The Lightning, who are celebrating their 25th season, and the city of Tampa will host the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend. The League’s midseason showcase will take place at Amalie Arena and will include the 2018 NHL All-Star Skills Competition on Saturday, Jan. 27 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS) and 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, Jan. 28 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).

Vasilevskiy's 6th shutout helps Lightning beat Maple Leafs

Associated Press

TORONTO (AP) -- Andrei Vasilevskiy showed the Toronto Maple Leafs why he's one of the NHL's most dominant goalies this season.

Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots for his NHL-best sixth shutout of the season to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 2-0 victory over the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.

Vasilevskiy got his league-leading 26th win, and Cedrick Paquette and Alex Killorn scored for Tampa Bay, which won for the 12th time in 14 games.

"It feels good," Vasilevskiy said. "Sometimes (our defense) is able to help me and sometimes I'm able to help them."

The 23-year-old Russian is enjoying a career season with Tampa Bay. When the Lightning parted ways with goalie Ben Bishop last season, they did so with the hope that Vasilevskiy was ready to become the team's undisputed starter.

He's played in 12 playoff games, including two appearances during the team's Stanley Cup Final run in 2015, but there was always a question of how he would handle the spotlight and workload that comes with being the true No. 1.

So far, he's proven worthy of the promotion.

"It's just been a pleasure to watch him grow in this league," Lightning coach John Cooper said. "He makes us a little bigger on the bench, that's for sure."

Frederik Andersen had 34 saves for Toronto, which lost its third straight and is 3-6-1 in its last 10 games.

Tampa Bay controlled much of the pace during the first period, outshooting Toronto 25-12. The Lightning opened the scoring when Chris Kunitz stripped the puck from Andersen while the goalie was handling it behind the net. Kunitz centered a pass to Paquette in the slot and he converted at 12:00 for his first goal since last Jan. 21.

"It was that type of goal where everyone was just on their checks," Kunitz said.

The Lightning added to their lead when Killorn's shot from the circle went through Andersen's legs. Initially, game officials let play resume as they ruled no goal at the time but after 22 seconds the league office called in to interrupt play and award Tampa the goal at with 3:06 remaining.

"I didn't think it went in at the time, I didn't see it unless it would have hit the back of the net," Killorn said of the sequence. "But I knew when the buzzer went, it was a goal."

The Leafs' best chance to score came in the second period when Mitch Marner had a breakaway. He cut across and forced Vasilevskiy to stretch across the net to make a pad save.

"He made a really good play and I think I got lucky a little bit," Vasilevskiy said of Marner's chance.

Marner had a solid second, highlighting an issue the Leafs have had at points throughout the year: slow starts.

"I thought the first period for him and that line was not very good. Then I thought he dominated the game in the second and third," Babcock said of Marner. "When you're going to be a driver on our team like he's going to be, it's every night. You've got to be ready to go right from the get-go."

NOTES: Leafs C Nazem Kadri returned to the lineup after missing two games with an upper-body injury. ... Toronto C Frederik Gauthier made his regular-season debut.

UP NEXT

Lightning: At Montreal on Thursday night in the middle game of a five-game trip.

Maple Leafs: Host San Jose on Thursday night in the second of a stretch of six straight at home.

Point, Stamkos score in shootout as Lightning beat Senators

Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- It took longer than the Lightning wanted, but the NHL's top team finally prevailed against a struggling Atlantic Division foe.

Tampa Bay never led against the Ottawa Senators until Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos scored the only shootout goals, lifting the Lightning to a 4-3 victory on Thursday night, their eighth win in nine games.

"We're a veteran team," Stamkos said. "We're seasoned, and we understand that the game is 60 minutes. It may take 65 and a couple of shootouts to win the game. There's just no panic in this group."

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped shots by Ottawa's Tom Pyatt and Matt Duchene in the shootout.

Tampa Bay threatened to win on a power play at the end of overtime, but Nikita Kucherov's shot past Craig Anderson was launched a split-second after the buzzer.

Ottawa broke out on top in unusual fashion. Bobby Ryan was credited with an unassisted goal 6:31 into the game after Dan Girardi's attempt to clear a rebound glanced off the shin of fellow Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn and past Vasilevskiy.

Twelve minutes into the second period, Tampa Bay pulled even on a delayed penalty with a deflected goal of its own. Kucherov blasted a shot from the top of the right circle that glanced off teammates Tyler Johnson and Alex Killorn and through the legs of Anderson.

The Senators regained the lead on a backhander by Cody Ceci with 5:26 remaining in the second. Yanni Gourde tied it again just over a minute later.

Ottawa took its third lead six minutes into the third period on a power-play goal by Derick Brassard. Vladislav Namestnikov answered for Tampa Bay about five minutes later.

"Once we get the lead, we get a little passive, and that's something that we're going to have to work on," Senators captain Erik Karlsson said. "We gave them a little too much room. We were up by a goal and we let them come back a little too easy. That's going to happen, unfortunately, against good teams like this."

Vasilevskiy needed to make only 18 saves in his league-leading 22nd victory. Anderson made 35 stops for Ottawa, which has lost all but three of its last 17 games.

"The second period we really tilted the ice," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Give Anderson credit. He was kicking everything out."

NOTES: Kucherov has scored multiple points in four consecutive games and a league-best 18 overall. ... D Victor Hedman has produced points in five consecutive games for Tampa Bay. ... Senators D Dion Phaneuf missed his first game this season for personal reasons. Other Ottawa scratches were D Andreas Englund, recalled earlier in the day from the AHL, and C Filip Chlapik. ... D Slater Koekkoek and Andrej Sustr were healthy scratches for the Lightning.

UP NEXT

Senators: Visit the Florida Panthers on Saturday.

Lightning: Host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

Late goal lifts Golden Knights over Lightning

LAS VEGAS -- Tampa Bay came into Tuesday night's game with Vegas owning the NHL's top power play, scoring at a 27.4 percent clip. But it was the Golden Knights who made better use of playing with the extra man at T-Mobile Arena in a dramatic 4-3 victory.

Vegas (22-9-2) became just the third team this season to score four power-play goals in a game, the final one coming on defenseman Shea Theodore's game-winning blast with 2.3 seconds remaining, and the Golden Knights snapped the Lightning's seven-game win streak.

It was just the second goal of the season for Theodore, who began the season with Chicago of the AHL and also had three assists. It came off a cross-ice pass from Jonathan Marchessault from the right point just 21 seconds after Tampa Bay defenseman Brandon Coburn went to the penalty box for grabbing the stick of Vegas forward James Neal.

"Things were clicking, our power-play finally got going, and it was a good night for everyone," Theodore said. "The puck came up and across and I was just trying to shoot it as hard as I can anywhere I could.

"It was good for it to go in. Definitely a sigh of relief. I wasn't sure how much time was left. I knew it was ticking down. To have two seconds left and win, that was big."

Vegas joined Boston (vs. Vancouver, Oct. 19) and Detroit (vs. Colorado, Nov. 15) as the only teams in the NHL this season to have four power-play goals in a game.

Neal, Marchessault and Erik Haula also scored goals and David Perron added three assists for Vegas, which won for the seventh time in eight games and moved into a first-place tie in the Pacific Division with the Los Angeles Kings (21-10-4).

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots to pick up the win in net.

Victor Hedman, Steven Stamkos and Vladislav Namestnikov scored goals and NHL scoring leader Nikita Kucherov added two assists for Tampa Bay (24-7-2). Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy had 32 saves.

Stamkos, who came into the game leading the NHL in power-play scoring with eight goals and 20 points, wasted no time padding that total when he rifled in a one-timer from the left circle just 7:43 into the game. Namestnikov made it 2-0 with just 47 seconds left in the first period when he took a pass on the edge of the crease and quickly turned and flipped in a shot over Fleury.

But Vegas came back in the second period to tie it at 2 with two power-play goals of its own.

Neal started the comeback when he took a pass from Perron on the right side of the net and fired in his 17th goal of the season. Marchessault then tied it with his 12th goal of the season.

"I think the real key was when we scored that first goal to make it 2-1," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "Our fans were so loud, and they just got behind our team and they wouldn't let us fall apart. When it's 2-0 and they get the next goal, it could be a completely different hockey game. It could a 5-0, 6-0 hockey game. We got that first goal and our crowd got so noisy and got behind our players and we fed off that."

The Golden Knights took a 3-2 lead early in the third period when Haula deflected Theodore's shot from the blue line, but Hedman tied it with his fourth goal of the season when his shot from the left point got past Fleury, who appeared to be screened on the play, setting the stage for Theodore's dramatic game-winner.

"That's a crappy way to lose a hockey game," Stamkos, upset with the holding the stick penalty on Coburn, said. "We fight back to tie the game. ... That's an iffy call."

Hedman, meanwhile, said the Lightning have only themselves to blame because of their poor penalty killing. Vegas finished 4-of-5 on the power play.

"We've got to find a way to kill off those penalties," Hedman said. "You can't give up four on the PK and expect to win a hockey game. That one stings."

NOTES: Vegas improved 14-2-1 at T-Mobile Arena, the most home wins for any team in the Western Conference ... Tampa Bay D Jake Dotchin and C Tyler Johnson were both scratched with the flu. RW Ryan Callahan also missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury suffered Dec. 14 at Arizona that is expected to keep him sidelined 3-4 weeks. ... Vegas scratched LW Tomas Hyka, D Brad Hunt and C Ryan Carpenter. ... F Nikita Kucherov's assist on Steven Stamkos' opening power-play goal was the 150th of his career. ... F Jonathan Marchessault's goal was the 50th of his career and also his 100th career point. ... Tampa Bay returns home to open a four-game homestand on Thursday against Ottawa. Vegas concludes a five-game homestand on Saturday against Washington.

Upstart Golden Knights face hot Lightning

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LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights already possess an impressive tally of milestones during their inaugural NHL season, tying or breaking records for best start (3-0-0), win streak (five, twice), most wins in the first 12 home games (10) and fewest games to reach 20 victories (31).

Perhaps the most impressive statistic for coach Gerard Gallant's expansion squad is this one: In five games against the four teams that played in last season's conference finals -- Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh, Nashville, Anaheim and Ottawa -- the Golden Knights are a perfect 5-0-0.

Now comes arguably their toughest test of the season when the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning make their first visit to T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night.

The Atlantic Division-leading Lightning have the best record in the NHL (24-6-2), and they haven't lost a game in December, bringing a seven-game win streak with them to Las Vegas including a 6-5 victory at Colorado on Saturday.

"Everyone wants to play in the big game," Vegas defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "You want to be able to match yourself up against the best teams and players as well as you can. They've got some of the hottest players and are the hottest team in the league right now, and that's what you want to match yourself up against."

Tampa Bay leads the NHL in scoring (3.8 goals per game) and power-play success (27.4 percent) and is third in goals against (2.5). Right winger Nikita Kucherov leads the league in points (46) and is tied with Washington's Alex Ovechkin for most goals (23) while center Steven Stamkos is second in scoring (43) and tied for second in assists (31).

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy leads the NHL in wins (21) and is third in both save percentage (.934) and goals against (2.11) while defenseman Anton Stralman leads the league in plus/minus (plus-24).

The Lightning also own a league-best plus-43 in goal differential, which is 18 better than the second place Los Angeles Kings.

"They play a fast game," Gallant said. "I talk about our team playing fast. Well, this is probably the fastest and quickest team in the league. ... They score more goals than anybody, and they play a real good hockey game. They're a dangerous club."

Tampa Bay spent the past two days in Las Vegas, and coach Jon Cooper gave his squad Sunday off to "check out the sights." Cooper, meanwhile, took in the Golden Knights' 5-2 win over Florida that night.

"I got to go to the game as a fan (Sunday) night and really enjoyed myself," Cooper said of the atmosphere at T-Mobile Arena. "But it will be a work day (on Tuesday)."

Cooper also came away impressed with what he saw on the ice.

"They roll four lines out at you and six (defensemen)," Cooper told NHL.com. "Their team is really good. It was really impressive to watch.

"It feels like they're never out of a play. You fall asleep on them and they're going to get you. They're a team that plays for three periods."

The game against the Golden Knights (21-9-2) ends a 10-day, four-game road trip for the Lightning that started with a 3-0 victory at St. Louis and also included a 4-1 win over Arizona before the Saturday victory over the Avalanche.

"We came on this trip wanting to win all four," Tampa Bay defenseman Jake Dotchin said. "We still haven't accomplished our goal. We've got to come in Tuesday ready to go and get ready to play a good team."

Lightning down Coyotes for sixth straight win

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning needed only 41 seconds in the first period -- barely the length of a single shift -- to show why they have the NHL's best record, its two top scorers and its hottest goaltender.

And, conversely, why the Arizona Coyotes are saddled with the NHL's worst record, be it home or away.

Nikita Kucherov scored for a third consecutive game and set up one of two quick Tampa Bay goals early on, and the league-leading Lightning won a season-high sixth straight game by beating the Coyotes 4-1 Thursday night.

"We capitalized on our opportunities, and we created a lot for ourselves," defenseman Victor Hedman said. "We have great chemistry in this room, we have a lot of fun together and we want to win hockey games."

They're certainly doing that, as they improved to an NHL-best 23-6-2 and dropped Arizona to a league-worst 7-22-5. Kucherov took over the NHL scoring lead by one point (44-43) over teammate Steven Stamkos, who had an assist, and tied Alex Ovechkin of Washington for the league lead with 22 goals.

The Coyotes lost their fifth in a row and eighth in nine games and are 3-9-1 at home.

"We weren't sharp at all. We were dull. We did some dumb things out there," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "We looked tired. ... I don't know what it was, but some guys just gave in."

Tyler Johnson and Brayden Point also had a goal and an assist each to support goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who excelled again by stopping 32 shots. Vasilevskiy has given up only eight goals while winning his last five starts, and he is a league-best 21-4-1.

There was some potentially bad news, however, as Lightning right wing Ryan Callahan went to the dressing room holding his right forearm after colliding into the boards with Arizona defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the third period.

Coach Jon Cooper didn't have an immediate update after the game, but he said "this might be longer than a day-to-day" injury for Callahan, who missed the previous game with an undisclosed injury.

"It doesn't look very good," Stamkos said of Callahan's injury. "It's a tough one for us."

The Lightning, coming off a 3-0 win over Eastern Conference-leading St. Louis on Tuesday, took control in less than a minute of the first period against Arizona, which is finally settling in at home after playing 21 road games by Dec. 10 -- the most in NHL history.

"They're a hell of a hockey team, but at the beginning I didn't think Tampa was ready," Tocchet said. "They were kind of moseying into the game, but we didn't sense that and say, 'Hey, let's jump on them.' And that's what's disappointing."

Any Tampa Bay lethargy vanished with its first power play, as Vladislav Namestnikov pushed in the rebound of Stamkos' shot from the left circle that goalie Antti Raanta couldn't control 11:30 into the game -- one of Tampa Bay's 46 shots.

"You've got to expect that; they've got lots of firepower there," Raanta said. "They brought everybody to the ice today, and we didn't. That's pretty much the game, in a short version."

Only 41 seconds later, Point got behind two defenders and beat Raanta on a short breakaway for his 14th goal, extending his scoring streak to five games. It was exactly the kind of game-altering score off a defensive breakdown that Arizona has constantly given up.

"We knew we had to play better than we did the last game (against St. Louis)," Stamkos said. "We knew we had to come out and have a better start, and we got that. ... We weren't happy, we got the win (at St. Louis) but we wanted to execute a lot better."

In the second, Kucherov scored his 22nd goal on a wrist shot that deflected off Arizona defenseman Jason Demers and past Raanta at 6:11.

Arizona rookie Clayton Keller ended a 17-game goal-scoring drought by scoring his team-high 12th on a power play later in the second, but Johnson restored Tampa Bay's three-goal advantage 31 seconds into the third. Johnson has four of his eight goals, plus seven assists, in his last six games.

NOTES: Coyotes C Zac Rinaldo (illness) was scratched and replaced by C Nick Cousins. ... Arizona rookie RW Christian Fischer was struck in the mouth by a shot from Tampa Bay D Anton Stralman with 5:55 gone in the game, but he returned later in the first. ... The Coyotes played the first of five consecutive home games after being on the road for 21 of the first 33. ... Tampa Bay is 10-4-1 on the road.

Lightning take over top spot by beating Blues

ST. LOUIS -- Andrei Vasilevskiy had revenge on his mind when he stepped on the ice for the Tampa Bay Lightning's game Tuesday night against the St. Louis Blues.

Vasilevskiy had started only one previous game in St. Louis in his career and it was a night he wished he could forget.

On Dec. 1, 2016, Vasilevskiy allowed four goals in just over 21 minutes and was pulled from the game as the Blues went on to a 5-4 victory.

"It wasn't my best game," he recalled.

Vasilevskiy had a much more enjoyable evening on Tuesday as he recorded his third shutout of the season and earned his 20th victory in a 3-0 win that extended the Lightning's winning streak to five games.

He became the sixth goalie in NHL history to reach the 20-win mark in his first 25 appearances of the season.

The win also put the Lightning back in sole possession of the top spot in the NHL standings, breaking a tie with the Blues, who lost for the first time in five games.

Vasilevskiy made 32 saves and also benefitted from several missed chances by the Blues, who failed to convert two 2-on-1 breaks in the second period and saw Vladimir Sobotka miss a wide open net midway through the third period.

"It was a tough challenge for us but the guys played pretty well in front of me," Vasilevskiy said. "Overall, I thought we played well. I played my game, too."

The Lightning gave Vasilevskiy the only goal he would need with 45 seconds left in the first period when Brayden Point got his own rebound of a shot that hit the post and took advantage of the second chance, beating Jake Allen for his 13th goal of the season. He has scored in each of the last four games, the longest streak of his career.

That lead stood up until Nikita Kucherov added his 21st goal of the season at 13:37 of the third period, which came on the shift after Sobotka's missed opportunity to tie the game.

"I missed the empty net," Sobotka said. "It is what it is. It happens. I don't know what to tell you; I missed the net and it could have been 1-1 and they score on the next shift."

Tampa coach Jon Cooper thought Vasilevskiy saved the game for the Lightning in the second period.

"We let them have a chance to come right back in the game and our goalie had to bail us out," Cooper said. "We made our goalie have to stress out getting a shutout."

Both Blues coach Mike Yeo and Allen also gave credit for the win to Vasilevskiy.

"We generated opportunities but obviously there's some nights where the goalie deserves some credit," Yeo said. "That guy's pretty good. That's a good team we played tonight. I thought we gave ourselves a good chance. We didn't finish, we didn't capitalize, but if we keep playing like that then we will get good results.

"This is not a night where you come in here and beat people up. It was a good effort but it wasn't enough. We'll find a way to get better."

Added Allen, "I didn't think we made it hard enough on Vasilevskiy. He's been the best goalie in the league this year and it's not even really close. We put pucks on net but it was pretty easy for him."

Tyler Johnson scored the final Lightning goal into an empty net with 22 seconds to play.

The Blues were shut out for the third time this season, all of which have been at home.

The Lightning also broke a five-game losing streak in St. Louis with their first win on the road against the Blues since Dec. 18, 2009.

"It was finally nice to win here," Cooper said. "I coached junior here (in St. Louis). We had a lot of success but just haven't had it in the NHL coming to this building so definitely nice, especially a team that has the most points in the Western Conference. It's a big confidence builder for us."

NOTES: The Blues placed D Alex Pietrangelo on injured reserve because of a lower-body injury, meaning he will be out at least a week. ... D Jordan Schmaltz was recalled from San Antonio of the AHL and was in the lineup as D Jay Bouwmeester also was scratched because of what was described as a "nagging" injury. ... RW Sammy Blais also was sent back to San Antonio. ... Lightning D Braydon Coburn (undisclosed injury) participated in the morning skate, and the team hopes he can play later on their road trip, which continues Thursday night at Arizona. ... The Blues' homestand continues Thursday night against Anaheim.

Power-play strike lifts Lightning past Avalanche

TAMPA, Fla. -- Give the Tampa Bay Lightning enough chances, and the NHL's top power-play team will keep scoring.

Tampa Bay pulled away with a power-play goal in the third period, its eighth consecutive game with at least one tally on the man advantage, in a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night at Amalie Arena.

The Lightning (20-6-2) missed on their first three power plays but scored on the fourth as Alex Killorn got his third goal of the season and his second in the past 25 games.

Tampa Bay has won three straight at home by a combined 16-6, while Colorado (12-13-2) dropped its fourth straight, giving up 16 goals in the past three.

Lightning center Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists, moving ahead of teammate Nikita Kucherov for the NHL lead with 41 points. Vladislav Namestnikov also produced one goal and two assists.

Backup Tampa Bay goalie Peter Budaj picked up his second win in five starts this season, finishing with 28 saves, including 14 in the final period.

"It's a tough job," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of being a backup goalie. "You always have to stay ready, whether it's four or five in a row you're not going to play. The tough part has always been the first few minutes, and then he settles in and he's lights out. There's a reason he's been so good at it for so many years."

Tampa Bay added a four-on-six short-handed empty-net goal from Brayden Point, who sent the puck the length of the ice to put the game away with 3:19 left. It was his 11th goal of the season.

The Lightning led 3-2 after two periods, thanks to a goal by Namestnikov -- his 12th this season -- with 11:51 left in the second. Stamkos fired a pass from behind the net to Tyler Johnson, whose shot bounced wide, and the quick rebound from Namestnikov went in for the lead.

The two teams traded goals early. Colorado's Gabriel Landeskog, fresh off a four-game suspension, scored at 1:21, beating Budaj for his 10th goal.

"I was excited to be back out there and saw an opportunity to take it to the net," Landeskog said. "I got lucky."

That lead didn't last long. Stamkos outskated two Avalanche defenders to track down a loose puck and backhand a shot past Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov (27 saves) to tie the game 25 seconds later. The goal was the 12th for Stamkos.

"Stammer had a really strong game tonight," Cooper said. "When you go down, to answer like that, I think everybody took a breath. We had a really strong first, and it was too bad we couldn't come out with the lead, but we knew we were playing well."

The Lightning took a 2-1 lead with 13:36 left in the first when Chris Kunitz redirected a shot from Dan Girardi past Varlamov for his fifth goal and second in as many games. Again, the Avalanche answered, with Erik Johnson getting a breakaway and putting a shot through Budaj's legs for a 2-2 tie with 1:38 left in the period.

Colorado has struggled, especially on the defensive end, giving up a combined 16 goals in the past three losses as it continues a four-game road trip.

"That's four in a row now. We have to find a way to get out of this one," Landeskog said. "We're going to have to watch some video and assess what we're doing, what we can do better and what's really costing us."

Tampa Bay, which came in as the NHL's top scoring team, led 3-2 after two periods thanks to Namestnikov's goal.

NOTES: Lightning D Braydon Coburn missed a third consecutive game due to a lower-body injury, while D Jamie McBain and RW J.T. Brown were both healthy scratches. ... Colorado had D Duncan Siemens, LW Gabriel Bourque and RW Nail Yakupov as healthy scratches. ... Colorado continues a four-game road trip at the Florida Panthers on Saturday, while the Lightning wrap up a four-game homestand Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets before hitting the road for their next four.

Lightning overpower Islanders

TAMPA, Fla. -- They came in as the top two scoring teams in the NHL, but the Tampa Bay Lightning looked more like it Tuesday night.

The Lightning pulled away from the New York Islanders, scoring three goals in three minutes late in the second period on the way to a 6-2 victory at Amalie Arena.

Tampa Bay (19-6-2) saw a 2-0 lead disappear on a quick pair of Islanders goals in the second period, but answered in a big way.

Yanni Gourde scored twice in 94 seconds -- first a power-play goal with 3:38 left in the second, then an even-strength goal with 2:04 left -- for a 4-2 lead, and Vladislav Namestnikov added another goal four seconds into the next power play with 1:14 left in the period.

"Obviously, you want to be around the net. This is where you score goals," Gourde said. "I'm going to continue doing that. I think that's where most goals are scored."

New York (16-9-2) rallied back from a 2-0 deficit with two goals in less than two minutes. Rookie Mathew Barzal scored on his seventh goal of the season on the power play with 12:53 left, and had the assist on Jordan Eberle's 11th goal of the season with 11:02 remaining to tie the game.

"The only positive you can take from the game is that they're one of the best if not the best team in the league, and in the second period, it was completely flipflopped," Eberle said. "We know how we can play. We just need to do it for a full 60 minutes."

Tampa Bay jumped out to a 2-0 lead in a dominant first period, outshooting the Islanders 11-2. Brayden Point scored 34 seconds into the game for his 10th goal, and defenseman Andrej Sustr scored with 2:13 left in the first on his second goal of the season.

Chris Kunitz added a goal in the third period off a steal and breakaway for his fourth goal of the season, with 14 minutes remaining.

"We had a really good first, took our foot off the gas, but they're a really good team," Kunitz said. "They're going to capitalize on turnovers and chances.

Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss gave up six goals on 32 shots, while Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy (29 saves) picked up his NHL-high 18th win.

Two weeks ago, the Islanders had handed the Lightning a 5-3 loss in the same building, but John Tavares said his team was much more careful with the puck in that game.

"I felt like we managed the puck extremely poorly, turned it over a lot," Tavares said. "They're obviously a very good hockey team. They make plays, have some great shooters and they put pressure on you. We made it too easy for them."

Gourde recorded his seventh and eighth goals of the season and has four goals in two games against the Islanders, compared to four in 26 games against everyone else. The Lightning, who have the league's top power play, have power-play goals in seven straight games, going 4-for-8 in the last three.

New York, which had picked up a shootout win at Florida on Monday night, missed a chance for their second back-to-back sweep in seven chances this season. The Lightning dominated early and expected a strong second period from the Islanders, who dominated for 15 minutes but saw things slip away in the final minutes of the period.

"Thankfully, Yanni Gourde came to the rescue at the end of the second, gave us a big lift, and we took it home from there," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "He's always going against the Islanders. He plays with lots of energy and I thought that line was really good tonight, with (Cory) Conacher and (Alex) Killorn. They were hunting pucks, they were hounding, and they were rewarded."

Tampa Bay passed the Islanders for the league in goals with 100, one ahead of New York.

NOTES: Lightning D Braydon Coburn missed a second straight game with a lower-body injury, with RW J.T. Brown and D Jamie McBain as healthy scratches. ... The Islanders had D Dennis Seidenberg and D Thomas Hickey as healthy scratches. ... The Lightning continue a four-game homestand on Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche. ... The Islanders continue a four-game road trip Thursday at the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Rask helps Bruins hold off Lightning, 3-2

By KEN POWTAK
Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Tuukka Rask heard the question about personally needing to string together some wins and didn’t hesitate to answer.

“I need them. I need them,” he said, smiling, after the Boston Bruins hung on for a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.

Rask made 19 saves to snap his four-game losing streak, providing a solid effort with coach Bruce Cassidy facing some fans’ desire to play backup Anton Khudobin more.

“We need both goaltenders to be good for us to excel as a team,” Cassidy said. “Tuukka needs his reps as well. He’s a good goalie. He made those big saves and we got him that extra goal.”

Charlie McAvoy and Riley Nash scored first-period goals as the Bruins totally controlled the opening 20 minutes and into the second.

“You’re watching the shot clock and you try not to — it was like 30-6 or something,” Rask said. “You knew they were going to come.”

Boston outshot the Lightning 32-12 through two periods.

Torey Krug also scored and Brad Marchand assisted on the first two goals for the Bruins, who opened a 3-0 lead to post their fifth win in six games. Boston improved to 13-3 in its last 16 at home against the Lightning.

Steven Stamkos and Andrej Sustr scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves. Tampa Bay, which entered the game with the NHL’s best record, lost for the third time in four games following a season-high five-game winning streak.

Criticized lately for his uneven play combined with recent solid performances by backup Khudobin, Rask raised his record to just 4-8-2 this season. Khudobin is 7-0-2.

Rask flashed his pad to block Ryan Callahan’s tip from in close late in the game.

The Bruins came out strong in the opening period, firing 19 shots on goal en route to a 2-0 lead after one.

“We looked like a team that was coming off a back-to-back in the first period,” Stamkos said. “We didn’t have our legs. They came out hard. They dominated us.”

McAvoy snapped off a shot from the right circle that slipped through a crowd of players and past Vasilevskiy to make it 1-0 at 7:27. Originally, it was waved off for goaltender interference with Boston’s Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand at the edge of the crease, but Cassidy challenged the call and it was overturned.

Nash fired a wrister that sailed over Vasilevskiy’s left shoulder with 2:47 left.

Vasilevskiy faced nearly as many shots in the first as he did the entire game a night earlier when he stopped 24 in his sixth career shutout, a 2-0 victory at Buffalo.

“We have to find a way to get a better start,” Lightning forward Chris Kunitz said.

Ryan Spooner set up Krug’s goal that made it 3-0 early in the second. After the Bruins kept the puck in Tampa Bay’s zone for a lengthy stretch, Spooner backhanded a pass that Krug one-timed inside the right post.

Sustr snapped a shot from the right point that sailed into the net past a group of players and by Rask’s glove midway into the second. Stamkos one-timed Nikita Kucherov’s pass for a power-play goal in the third after Brandon Carlo was whistled for interference 46 seconds into the period.

NOTES: The Bruins equaled their most shots on goal in a period this season in the first. They matched their second period at the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 16. ... Boston F David Backes returned to the lineup after missing nearly a month following surgery to remove part of his colon. Marchand also returned after missing six games with an undisclosed injury, but C David Krejci was out with an undisclosed upper body injury. ... Tampa Bay has scored a power-play goal in five straight games. ... A male fan seated about 10 rows back at center ice was hit in the head with a puck in the opening period and walked from his seat to seek medical attention with his hand over his forehead.

UP NEXT

Lightning: Host the Sharks on Saturday in the opener of a four-game homestand.

Bruins: At the Flyers on Saturday in the first of two straight road games.

Vasilevskiy gets shutout as Lightning snap two-game skid

By JONAH BRONSTEIN
Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The NHL’s highest-scoring team leaned on its defense to snap a two-game losing streak.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 34 saves in his second shutout of the season, and the Tampa Bay Lightning got goals from defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Dan Girardi in a 2-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

“When you’re on a little bit of a slide, we’re just trying to get back to basics,” Lightning forward Tyler Johnson said. “Keep it simple, get pucks to the net and get some of those dirty goals.”

Tampa Bay is off to the best start in franchise history (17-5-2) but had lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

Vasilevskiy leads the NHL with 16 wins and has six career shutouts in 101 starts.

“He’s one of, if not the best goalie in the world right now,” Johnson said.

Robin Lehner stopped 24 shots for the Sabres, who were held scoreless for the second straight game and have lost nine of 10.

“It wasn’t a bad performance but not good enough,” Lehner said. “Good enough is not enough right now. We need to claw back. We need to do something special.”

The Sabres pulled Lehner to gain an extra attacker for the final 4:09 of the game.

“We have to have some attitude when we start the game,” Sabres coach Phil Housley said. “This is our home rink. We’ve got to get out and establish a forecheck, show more emotion on the ice.”

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, the NHL’s leading scorer, went without a goal for the fifth straight game and has added just one point to his league-high tally during that stretch. Linemate Nikita Kucherov had an assist for his second point in five games and is now one point behind Stamkos for the NHL lead with 35.

“They’ve produced at such a high rate, there are going to be games or little spurts where you’re not going to get a point,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “The big thing is we won the game and they didn’t score.”

Sergachev scored his sixth goal of the season on a power play to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead late in the first period. The rookie’s wrist shot from the right circle deflected in off the stick of Buffalo’s Johan Larsson.

Tampa Bay has scored a power-play goal in nine of its last 10 games and leads the NHL in conversion rate.

Girardi, the longtime New York Rangers defenseman, got his first goal with the Lightning midway through the second period. His slap shot from the top of the right circle bounced in off Buffalo’s Marco Scandella.

“That’s in our game plan. You have to get your ‘D’ involved,” Cooper said. “But I liked that Stammer was at the net and that’s what you have to do. You have to take away the goalie’s eyes.”

NOTES: Sabres D Rasmus Ristolainen went to the locker room late in the second period after being shoved into the net by Tampa Bay’s Braydon Coburn but was able to return. “He got a little stinger there but was fine coming back,” Housley said. Ristolainen was playing in his third game after missing nine with an upper-body injury. ... Lightning F J.T. Brown missed his third straight game with an undisclosed injury. ... The Sabres have not gotten a goal from a defenseman all season. ... The Lightning have beaten the Sabres in five straight meetings and are 8-0-1 in their last nine trips to Buffalo. ... The Sabres went scoreless on three power-play chances and are now 0 for 18 over the past seven games.

UP NEXT

Lightning: At Boston on Wednesday night.

Sabres: Host Pittsburgh on Friday night.

Dumont, Paigin on waivers

Gabriel Dumont of the Tampa Bay Lightning was placed on waivers, and Ziyat Paigin of the Edmonton Oilers was placed on unconditional waivers on Monday.

NHL Insider Ellotte Freidman tweeted that he was curious about the movement of Paigin because Freidman read some positive things about Paigin in preseason. Freidman was given a reason forthe transaction; that Paigin "wasn't working out for a number of reasons on both sides."

As for Dumont, he has posted no goals or assists in seven games with the Lightning this season. He will likely go to Syracuse of the AHL if he clears.

- Joey Gucciardo