Kucherov's six points, Guentzel hat trick leads Lightning to 8-3 romp over Flames

The Tampa Bay Lightning's Jake Guentzel has his shot blocked by Calgary Flames goalie Dan Vladar in Calgary on Dec. 12, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Nikita Kucherov contributed a goal and five assists to the Tampa Bay Lightning's 8-3 win over the host Calgary Flames on Thursday.

Jake Guentzel scored a hat trick, Brayden Point had a goal and three assists and Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel and Conor Geekie also scored for Tampa Bay (15-10-2).

Andrei Vasilevskiy, who became the first Lightning goalie to play 500 games, made 19 saves for the win.

The 30-year-old holds the record for most wins (306) by an NHL goalie in their first 500 games.

Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist and Nazem Kadri and Connor Zary also scored for Calgary (14-11-5).

Flames goaltender Dan Vladar stopped 18 shots in his second straight start.

Lightning captain and defenceman Victor Hedman was a late scratch from the game lineup after taking the warm-up.

The team posted on social media that Hedman was out with a lower-body injury and his status was day to day.

Tampa Bay scored three unanswered goals in the second period to lead 4-1 before Kadri at 12:14 and Zary at 14:49 countered to slow the visitors' momentum.

But Hagel struck just 43 seconds into the third period to swing advantage to the Lightning again. Tampa Bay poured it on with two goals by Guentzel and one from Geekie.

Cirelli and Point generated power-play goals in a span of three minutes 10 seconds starting at 7:55 of the second. Point notched the 100th power-play goal of his career.

Guentzel scored the Lightning's second goal when he fooled Vladar with a low off-speed shot from the top of the faceoff circle at 6:25.

Kucherov knotted the score 1-1 at 18:40 of the first period on a breakaway after Huberdeau fumbled the puck at the offensive blue line.

Martin Pospisil fed Huberdeau on the rush for the left-winger to tap a sharp-angled shot past Vasilevskiy at 4:42.

Takeaways

Lightning: Unrattled by the sudden absence of their captain and star defenceman, Tampa's forward depth overwhelmed Calgary.

Flames: Penalty kill that had shown flashes of improvement — going 6-for-6 in two road games— regressed at 0-for-3. Allowed goals on back-to-back Tampa Bay power plays in the second period.

Key moment

Two Tampa Bay goals with the man advantage in the second period gave the Lightning a 4-1 lead and had the Flames chasing.

Key stat

Lightning centre Point stretched his point streak to four straight games with three goals and 10 assists in that span. The 28-year-old Calgarian was recently named to Canada's roster for February's 4 Nations Face-Off.

Up next

The Flames play the second of a five-game homestand Saturday against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

The Lightning cap a four-game road swing Saturday in Seattle versus the Kraken.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Dec. 12, 2024.