A first period flood of goals pushed the Tampa Bay Lightning win streak to five games on Wednesday night.
Tampa Bay scored four times in the opening 10:01 of the game and went on to beat the Calgary Flames 5-1 at Benchmark International Arena. The Lightning are now 14-7-2 this season.
Brandon Hagel, Charle-Edouard D’Astous, Zemgus Girgensons and Declan Carlile all scored in the first period for the hosts, the only offense before the Flames got in on the scoring with a shorthanded goal in the third period.
The Lightning ended the night with a goal from Kucherov in the game’s final minutes.
Jake Guentzel joined Kucherov and Hagel with two-point nights to lead the Lightning, and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves for Tampa Bay.
The Lightning will continue play when they open a three-game trip with Friday’s 12 p.m. game in Detroit against the Red Wings.
Scoring summary
First period
TBL 1, CGY 0
00:39 Brandon Hagel (12) - Anthony Cirelli, Nikita Kucherov
Tampa Bay opened the scoring before Wednesday’s game reached its first minute. A save in the Lightning end led to a rush for the Lightning, one Hagel finished with his shot into the top right corner of the net.
TBL 2, CGY 0
1:26 Charle-Edouard D’Astous (2) - Nick Paul, Jake Guentzel
The Lightning cushioned the lead moments later, this score coming after Nick Paul cut back on the boards and tapped a pass to D’Astous for a one-timer from the left point.
TBL 3, CGY 0
5:52 Zemgus Girgensons (5) - Yanni Gourde, Pontus Holmberg
Zemgus Girgensons’ 200th career point added to the lead further, this goal coming when his pass attempt to the back post went into the Calgary net off a Calgary defenseman’s stick.
TBL 4, CGY 0
10:01 Declan Carlile (1) - Steven Santini, Guentzel
The barrage didn’t stop for the Lightning despite a Calgary goalie change, as defenseman Declan Carlile’s slap shot from the left circle slipped through Flames goalie Devin Cooley.
Shots on goal: TBL 10, CGY 5
Second period
None.
Shots on goal: TBL 9, CGY 9
Third period
TBL 4, CGY 1
1:04 Joel Farabee (6) - John Beecher, Yan Kuznetsov - SH
The Flames entered the scoring with a shorthanded goal by Joel Farabee.
TBL 5, CGY 1
14:23 Kucherov (11) - Hagel, Darren Raddysh
Tampa Bay scored the final goal of the game on a 2-on-1 rush.
Total shots: CGY 33, TBL 23
