EditorsNote: Fixes Riemsdyk in 5th graf
Nikita Kucherov notched a goal and an assist, Tampa Bay won its 11th consecutive home game and the Lightning beat the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 on Saturday to push the NHL's longest active winning streak to 10 straight.
Brayden Point scored a third-period goal to stretch his point streak to 10 games (three goals, 11 assists). The home victory by the Lightning broke the team record of 10 wins set in the 2014-15 campaign and improved them to 22-2-1 in their last 25 contests.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded his NHL-best 32nd win -- and eighth straight -- by stopping 30 shots. Alex Killorn, Cedric Paquette and Carter Verhaeghe also tallied for Tampa Bay.
Kucherov returned for the Lightning after missing a game with a lower-body injury. Steven Stamkos, who missed the previous three games with a lower-body injury, recorded two assists.
Ivan Provorov, James van Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux scored for the Flyers. Goalie Carter Hart made 19 saves.
Philadelphia lost its seventh straight (0-4-3) against Tampa, dating back to January 2018.
Early in the first, Killorn attempted a shot from a bad angle to Hart's left, but the puck bounced off defenseman Provorov's skate and right back to Killorn. The Lightning wing then popped in his 22nd goal of the season at 3:17.
The home side's third line made it 2-0 at 14:55 when Pat Maroon stole the puck behind the Flyers' goal and dished it over to Tyler Johnson, who found Paquette alone in front of Hart for his sixth goal.
Victor Hedman led a 4-on-2 rush early in the second and slid a pass to Verhaeghe, who netted his eighth goal at 2:35 to give Tampa Bay a three-goal edge. Provorov's marker on the man advantage at 8:57 cut into the lead, and Giroux's assist -- his 234th power-play helper -- tied Bobby Clarke for the franchise record.
Vasilevskiy stopped Sean Couturier's short-handed try at 1:51 of the third and denied him again in close at 5:08 on Philadelphia's fourth power play. Point appeared to seal the win at 12:34, but van Riemsdyk and Giroux both scored in the final five minutes.
Kucherov's empty-net goal with 22 seconds remaining closed out the win.
--Field Level Media
