Kucherov gets 4 points, Lightning defeat Flyers for 9th straight win

PHILADELPHIA -- Nikita Kucherov scored twice and had two assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning won their ninth straight game, 7-2 against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Kucherov has 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) during a nine-game point streak and has eight straight multipoint games.

"It doesn't necessarily surprise me, but I'm just so impressed by it," said Brayden Point, Kucherov's linemate. "It's every year. I think a lot of it is not only his talent, but his dedication and his work ethic. He's our best player, and he works the hardest. There's a reason why, not only was he gifted, but he's worked really hard to become one of the best players in the League."

Gage Goncalves had two goals, and Nick Paul, Brandon Hagel and Yanni Gourde also scored for Tampa Bay (27-13-3). Point had three assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves.

It's the Lightning's longest win streak since they won 11 in a row in 2019-20. It also comes after a stretch that saw them win two of their previous nine (2-6-1).

"When we lost seven of nine, we didn't change the way we played, and we just kept going," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "I thought we were playing pretty well when we weren't getting points. I liked our game. And now the guys are getting rewarded.

"You want to put yourself in a position to make the playoffs, you have to have a couple of these streaks. What do they say? Nine is a fluke, 10 would be a streak."

Garnet Hathaway and Owen Tippett scored for the Flyers (22-13-8), who lost in regulation for the first time in four games (2-1-1). Samuel Ersson made 16 saves.

"It's one of those games you've got to forget quick," Philadelphia captain Sean Couturier said. "Come ready to play, and we got a chance to play against the same team Monday and get two points back."

Kucherov put the Lightning ahead 1-0 at 1:49 of the first period. Point took the puck off Flyers forward Denver Barkey along the left boards and sent a cross-ice pass to Kucherov for a tap-in.

Hathaway deflected Noah Juulsen's shot from the right point for his first goal of the season to tie it 1-1 at 4:15.

The goal came in Hathaway's fourth game back in the lineup after being scratched for six.

"I can't go back and change anything that's happened so far," he said. "... It's nice to get one, it's nice to help the team on the score sheet. We needed more tonight than just that."

Kucherov made it 2-1 at 6:05 when he beat Ersson over his glove with a shot from the left face-off circle.

Paul pushed the lead to 3-1 at 13:37 of the second period when he scored off the rebound of a Charle-Edouard D'Astous shot.

"Obviously the third goal hurt us," Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said. "It's one of those games. When you play the game long enough, you're going to have those type of games."

The Lightning scored four times on eight shots in the third period.

"We got a little bit of a lead in the third early and they had to kind of press, and I think we just kind of took advantage of them trying to press," Point said.

Goncalves took a pass from Kucherov on the rush and went backhand-forehand before he slid the puck under the stick of Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim to score from in front and put Tampa Bay up 4-1 at 2:03.

"Probably early on in my career I don't make that play," Goncalves said. "But being with [Kucherov and Point] ... they're telling me to hold on to it and make plays. When you get a chance to beat a guy, if that's the play, then beat him, that kind of stuff. 'Pointer' has been really great, so has 'Kuch.' Them having belief in me makes my confidence go even more."

Hagel skated through the middle of the ice and finished a pass from Jake Guentzel to make it 5-1 at 3:37.

Tippett got the Flyers to within 5-2 with a power-play goal at 4:45.

Gourde finished a breakaway to make it 6-2 at 9:00 after Philadelphia forward Trevor Zegras turned the puck over at the Tampa Bay blue line.

Goncalves scored his second at 11:00 with a shot from the right circle for the 7-2 final.

NOTES: Kucherov has 36 four-point games, third among active NHL players, behind Connor McDavid (45) and Sidney Crosby (43). He also has 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) during an eight-game point streak against the Flyers. ... Guentzel had an assist to give him six points (one goal, five assists) during a four-game point streak. ... Hagel has eight points (three goals, five assists) during a five-game point streak. ... Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (10 points; four goals, six assists). ... It was Cooper's 599th win as an NHL coach, leaving him one shy of becoming the 25th with 600 victories. ... Tampa Bay defenseman J.J. Moser played his 300th NHL game. ... The Flyers played without forward Travis Konecny, who sustained an upper-body injury against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. He is day to day.