Jake Guentzel scored for the sixth consecutive game and added an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the host Seattle Kraken 5-1 on Saturday night.
Brandon Hagel tallied twice, Brayden Point added a goal and an assist, Nikita Kucherov had two helpers and Declan Carlile, recalled earlier in the day, scored his first NHL goal for the Lightning, who went 3-1-0 on their four-game Western swing. Goaltender Jonas Johansson made 21 saves in his first appearance since Nov. 29.
Brandon Montour scored for Seattle, which lost for just the second time in regulation in its past seven games (4-2-1). Philipp Grubauer stopped 26 of 30 shots.
Leading 2-1, the Lightning put the game away with three third-period goals.
The first came on the power play at 4:03 after Point’s shot from the high slot was deflected by defenseman Will Borgen. The puck floated toward the net and Guentzel tipped it between Grubauer’s pads.
Hagel scored an empty-netter at 16:08 and Carlile beat Grubauer with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle at 19:38.
The Kraken opened the scoring on the power play at 4:24 of the first period as Montour’s blast from the blue line beat a screened Johansson.
During the first TV timeout in the opening period, Lightning coach Jon Cooper walked from end-to-end of the bench to provide some heated inspiration for his team, which until that point had been outshot 7-0.
Whatever Cooper said paid off as Tampa Bay tied it shortly thereafter. The Lightning dumped the puck into the right-wing corner and won a race, sliding it back along the boards to Nick Perbix at the top of the faceoff circle. Perbix floated the puck toward the net and Hagel tipped it past Grubauer at 8:16.
The Lightning took the lead at 13:21. Grubauer made a kick save on Darren Raddysh’s initial shot, but the rebound ended up in the low slot. Point poked the puck between Grubauer’s pads for his team-leading 20th goal.
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman missed his second consecutive game with a lower-body injury despite participating in the morning skate. Seattle forward Yanni Gourde, who won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning before being selected by the Kraken in the 2021 expansion draft, missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury.
–Field Level Media