Cirelli gets hat trick, Lightning defeat Penguins to reach 100 points

TAMPA -- Anthony Cirelli scored a hat trick for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who reached the 100-point mark with a 6-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Benchmark International Arena on Thursday.

It was Cirelli's second NHL hat trick and first since Jan. 17, 2020.

"It's pretty cool, it's not something that comes around often," Cirelli said. "You play for the team and do everything you can for the team. Pretty good effort from the guys tonight and we'll take the two points."

Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists for the Lightning (47-22-6), who are 7-1-2 in their past 10. Jake Guentzel and Gage Goncalves each had two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves.

Tampa Bay is in first place in the Atlantic Division and tied in points with the Buffalo Sabres, who lost at the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Thursday and have played one more game.

Egor Chinakhov scored twice, and Rickard Rakell extended his goal streak to three games for the Penguins (38-22-16), who had won two straight and three of four. Samuel Girard and Kris Letang each had two assists, and Stuart Skinner made 27 saves.

Pittsburgh remained three points ahead of the New York Islanders for second in the Metropolitan Division.

"They did such a good job of creating time and space and we weren't able to necessarily get that back," Skinner said. "Even for our offense ... I mean we definitely got a few chances here and there, but overall they were all over us tonight. They didn't give us much room."

Cirelli gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 5:06 of the first period. Goncalves intercepted a pass from Penguins forward Ben Kindel in the defensive zone and put a snap shot off Skinner's blocker from above the right face-off circle. The puck rebounded to Cirelli in the slot, where he buried it to the glove side.

Rakell tied it 1-1 at 7:01. After Girard skated behind the net, the puck deflected off two Tampa Bay defenders to Rakell, who went skate-to-stick behind his back and stuffed it past Vasilevskiy at the left post.

Chinakhov put the Penguins up 2-1 at 16:10 when he lifted a backhand from the right circle under Vasilevskiy's right arm.

"We needed more to win the game," Chinakhov said. "We need to play more like we've played the last couple of games. They played pretty good structurally. We need to play our game. Tonight we were a little off I think."

Cirelli evened the game 2-2 just 11 seconds into the second period, scoring his second goal while on a short-handed breakaway with a backhand shot over Skinner's left pad.

"The first minute and last minute of the periods are huge," Cirelli said. "The guys responded and came out strong for the rest of the game and got back to our game."

Brayden Point gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead at 14:08. Guentzel followed the rebound of his shot behind the net and knocked it out in front, where Point chipped the puck over Skinner's glove.

Zemgus Girgensons increased it to 4-2 with his 100th NHL goal at 19:05. Yanni Gourde sent a backhanded pass from behind the net to Girgensons in front, where he went forehand-backhand and tucked the puck around Skinner's left pad.

"Once we found our legs and were making small plays with the puck we got our chances," Point said. "And tonight the guys buried them."

Kucherov made it 5-2 with a wrist shot from a sharp angle in the right circle at 13:50 of the third period.

Cirelli then completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 15:33 to push it to 6-2.

"Tony deserves that," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "You've watched him for a few years. Every shift he just gives everything, so you love to see guys like that get rewarded."

Chinakhov cut the deficit to 6-3 while on the power play with his second goal at 19:58.

"I really look at what we're giving up and we're not giving up too much," Cooper said. "And we were able to score a few goals against a really good team."

NOTES: Kucherov recorded his 19th three-point game of 2025-26 and tied Peter Stastny (1982-83) for the seventh-most in a single season by a player born outside North America. ... Cirelli scored his 145th and 146th career goals to surpass Freddy Modin (144) for sole possession of 10th place in franchise history. ... Rakell has nine points (seven goals, two assists) during a six-game streak. ... Chinakhov has six goals over his past eight games. ... Penguins forward Bryan Rust returned after missing a 5-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday with a lower-body injury. He had an assist and one shot on goal in 18:05 of ice time.