Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel each had a goal and two assists, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Saturday night. Darren Raddysh had a goal and an assist as Tampa Bay won for the third time in four games.
Here are three reasons to like the Lightning’s new-look power play. Thursday’s moves were transformative, because the personnel and positional changes made it difficult to tell which was the top unit and which was the second. Point men Victor Hedman and Darren Raddysh switched units, with Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel matched with Raddysh.
Anaheim opened the scoring 6:03 into the game on a redirection by forward Troy Terry, but the Lightning tied the score eight minutes later on the power play. Hedman got the puck at the left point and fed forward Brandon Hagel in the right corner, where the latter passed the puck to Anthony Cirelli at the back post for a tap-in and a tie game.
While the Tampa Bay Lightning continue to move up the Eastern Conference standings, their captain Victor Hedman keeps checking off milestones. The Lightning and their hulking defenseman will finish a two-game homestand Saturday night against the sizzling Detroit Red Wings in the opener of four matchups between the Atlantic Division foes.
The Lightning were a tired team Thursday night against the Ducks. Yes, they were back home. But after returning from Boston Wednesday following a three-game, four-day trip — part of a 16-game gauntlet (10 on the road) in January — they were a weary group.
“At the end of the day, it’s a step in the right direction on the road,” Lightning captain Victor Hedman said ... victory at home. Hedman and Nikita Kucherov scored for Tampa Bay.
A late breakaway goal from Nikita Kucherov stood as the game-winner as the Lightning beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday. The win closed a weekend back-to-back, one in which the Lightning left with three standings points after Saturday’s overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils.
The Red Wings got on the scoreboard with a power-play one-timer from Lucas Raymond late in period two. Raddysh’s power-play goal from the top of the setup extended the Lightning lead on a play in which Kucherov earned his 600th NHL assist.
TAMPA BAY -- Another Atlantic Division clash in the Sunshine State is up next for the Detroit Red Wings, who will go head-to-head with the Tampa Bay Lightning at AMALIE Arena on Saturday night.
Detroit has been on a bit of a hot streak as of late, winning 8 of their last 10 games. The Lightning have had a jam-packed month of January with sixteen games on the schedule. There's no doubt they'd like to see their divisional record improve and they'll have a chance to do it tonight.