Steven Stamkos recorded his thirteenth career hat trick and Nikita Kucherov added three more assists to extend his league lead in points as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-2. Brandon Hagel had two assists on the night while Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli also scored for the Bolts. Andrei Vasilevskiy picked up another win as he stopped 30 of 32 shots.
[Game Center] [Natural Stat Trick] [Event Summary] [Lines]
For the first ten to twelve minutes this game was a bunch of nothing. Neither team seemed to be particularly hyped out there on the ice, but were playing pretty well in their own zone. In the neutral zone and offensive zones, there just wasn’t much happening.
Over the final half of the period things did pick up, and it was the Lightning’s top line that got things going. Anthony Duclair slipped a nice pass to Nikita Kucherov in the slot. Kucherov spun inside his defenseman and put the pass right on Brayden Point’s stick. Point snuck his shot between Jet Greaves and the post to open the scoring. With the assist, Nikita Kucherov set a new franchise record for points in a season.
Brayden Point (44) [Nikita Kucherov, Anthony Duclair] 1-0 Tampa Bay
The goal did seem to wake Columbus up a bit and they started to push back, but there were a lot of one-and-done shots from the circles that Vasilevskiy dealt with easily. With less than a minute to go in the period, Kirill Marchenko found a spot in the slot with three Bolts around him. They weren’t able to get a stick on a stick and Marchenko’s shot squeezed its way through Vasy’s pads.
Kirill Marchenko (22) [Cole Sillinger, Damon Severson] 1-1
The Lightning were a little better at 5v5 play in the second period as they limited the Blue Jackets to just five scoring chances after giving up nine in the first period. Of course, that was partly because they took back-to-back penalties early in the frame. They killed off Brandon Hagel’s tripping penalty, but as it expired too many Bolts jumped over the boards and they were back shorthanded.
Just 20 seconds into the second power play, Kirill Marchenko did what he did in the first period and wired a shot from the slot over Vasilevskiy’s glove.
Kirill Marchenko (23) [Johnny Gaudreau, Zack Werenski] Power Play, 2-1 Columbus
As the period wore on, the Lightning finally decided to spend some time in the Columbus zone as the top line had a nice, long sustained shift that led to a couple of chances. Shortly after Emil Lilleberg drew a penalty as he dropped down low in the offensive zone.
The top unit jumped on the ice and it didn’t take long (60 seconds) for them to find the back of the net. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Kucherov delivered an excellent pass through a seam to Steven Stamkos who twisted his body in order to get the shot off. Greaves had no chance to get over and it was tied up at two a piece. With the assist, Nikita Kucherov set a new franchise record in points.
Steven Stamkos [37] (Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman) Power Play, 2-2
In the third period, the Blue Jackets basically let up for about 30 seconds and the Lightning took advantage. First it was Anthony Cirelli cleaning up a rebound in front of the net (with a nifty skate-to-stick move) as he hit the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career.
Anthony Cirelli [20] (Brandon Hagel, Steven Stamkos) 3-2 Tampa Bay
Before the cheers stopped echoing around the arena, Steven Stamkos launched one from the high-slot that beat Greaves (who had 28 saves on 32 shots) cleanly.
Steven Stamkos [38] (Brandon Hagel, Erik Cernak) 4-2 Tampa Bay
From that point the game was pretty much over. Yes, Columbus had the bulk of the shot attempts over the final few minutes, but they weren’t creating many dangerous chances. Out of the twelve scoring chances they were credited with, only three were considered high-danger.
It was only a matter of time till they pulled the goaltender, and it cost them as Nikita Kucherov banked one off of the boards that Stamkos skated onto and he easily guided it into the net for the hat trick. With the assist, Nikita Kucherov set a franchise record for points.
Steven Stamkos (39) [Nikita Kucherov] Empty Net, 5-2 Tampa Bay
It wasn’t the cleanest game for the Lightning, and they weren’t exactly engaged for much of it, but they still found a way to win and bank another two points to keep Toronto within their sites. With the win, the Lightning locked in the first wild card spot. They can technically catch the Maple Leafs, but they are starting to run out of time.
