The Tampa Bay Lightning enter Saturday tied for first in the NHL in goals per game with 3.96 and it’s not hard to figure out why.
Nikita Kucherov tied a pair of franchise records with six points and five assists in an 8-3 road victory Thursday against the Calgary Flames.
The Lightning will wrap up their four-game Western trip with a game Saturday night against the Seattle Kraken after going 2-1-0 so far.
Kucherov has 44 points in 25 games, with 14 goals and 30 assists. He enters Saturday second in the league in both points and assists to Colorado’s Nathan McKinnon (47 points, 36 assists).
“It just makes the game so much easier, especially playing on his line,” said Tampa Bay forward Brayden Point, who had a goal and three assists to move into a tie for second in the league in goals scored with 19, two behind Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl. Point also has 20 assists.
“He had six points. … Just incredible. It’s not hard to believe coming from ‘Kuch,’ but he’s been rolling this season and he’s a big part of our wins.”
Jake Guentzel had a hat trick and Anthony Cirelli added a goal and two assists. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves in his 500th NHL appearance.
“He’s been the backbone of this team, backbone of this franchise for the last decade here,” Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh said of Vasilevskiy. “Credit to him. He’s so consistent and hungry to win and we feed off his competitiveness. Great for us to come through in a milestone game for him.”
Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman and Erik Cernak didn’t play in Calgary and fellow defenseman J.J. Moser left in the second period, all with lower-body injuries.
“It’s a tough league to stay healthy in, and we got banged up in Vancouver (a 4-2 victory on Sunday) and we’re just trying to hold it together here until we get home,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
The Kraken improved to 4-1-1 in December by defeating visiting Boston 5-1 on Thursday as Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice and Philipp Grubauer made 33 saves.
Bjorkstrand has four goals over the past three games – he also scored twice in a 7-5 victory against the Rangers in New York – to tie Jared McCann for the team lead with 11.
It was the second consecutive victory for Grubauer, who had just one through his first nine appearances of the season.
“Great game for (Grubauer),” Bjorkstrand said. “He obviously kept us in it. I mean, he played really well all game, so you build momentum off that when you have times in the game where they’re pushing hard. We relied heavily on him (Thursday), and he did really well.”
Grubauer praised his defensemen.
“I think (the Bruins) only had like two or three chances there in the slot,” Grubauer said. “We played tight, kept them to the outside, and they had a high volume of shots, but I don’t think they had that many high-quality shots.”
The Kraken wore a patch with the word “Bondo” on their sweaters to honor owner David Bonderman, who died Wednesday at age 82. Bonderman was instrumental in refurbishing the old Seattle Center Coliseum to attract an NHL expansion franchise to Seattle.
“I’m going to dedicate that win to Mr. Bonderman because without him I don’t think we would be here,” Grubauer said. “Sam, the Bonderman family, what they’ve done for the city and for us is incredible.”
