Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists, including one on Victor Hedman’s game-winning tally, as the Tampa Bay Lightning won for the 11th straight time at home, edging Boston 3-2 and breaking the Bruins’ seven-game road winning streak on Thursday night.
In a 2-2 game in the third period, Hedman potted the go-ahead goal — his third of the season — at 13:19 after Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo made hard contact and knocked down Boston goaltender Linus Ullmark (32 saves).
The Lightning, who beat Boston for the first time in three tries, withstood a strong push by the Bruins with an extra skater on at the end and held on for goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
He made 37 saves in his 400th NHL game, improving to 22-12-1, as his club registered its second-longest home winning streak in franchise history.
The Lightning’s Brandon Hagel scored on a power play, and Brayden Point had two assists. Steven Stamkos’ helper gave the captain his second 10-game point streak for Tampa Bay, which moved to 19-0-0 when leading after one period.
Brad Marchand and Pavel Zacha tallied for the Bruins, who lost for the first time in seven games overall and slid to 10-2-0 in January.
With Marchand off for high-sticking, Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead 30 seconds into the man advantage when Kucherov slid a pass to Hagel, who was alone in the low slot. He deftly flipped the puck to his forehand and scored his 19th goal at 10:42.
The play opened up even more in a brisk second period that featured more scoring chances. The visitors took advantage during four-on-four play with Boston’s Taylor Hall and Tampa Bay’s Mikhail Sergachev off for matching minor infractions.
During a long cycle in the Lightning end, Boston’s forecheck kept the home side pinned in and unable to change lines. Marchand jumped over the boards on a change, quickly received a pass from Connor Clifton and ripped his 16th tally from inside the left circle at 16:58.
Bruins standout defenseman Charlie McAvoy left after a long slide and crashing hard into the end boards during the first minute of the third period, clutching his left arm, but he surprisingly returned in three minutes. Kucherov scored for the 20th time off a faceoff two seconds after McAvoy left.
The Bruins matched the marker less than two minutes later when Zacha netted his ninth of the year for a 2-2 tie.
–Field Level Media
