Bolts Feast Versus Flyers Again to Nab Tenth Straight Victory
- Riley Gillespie-Wilson
- Jan 12
- 4 min read
Riley Gillespie-Wilson | Thunderstruck Sports
Ten wins in a row in the National Hockey League is no easy feat. The Tampa Bay Lightning were able to achieve the benchmark Monday in a second straight convincing win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Brandon Hagel and Jake Guentzel each had a goal and an assist, and oh yeah, of course - Nikita Kucherov with a multi-point game in a 5-1 victory.
The contest came on the heels of an equally dominant game, in which Tampa Bay put up seven goals in consecutive road games.
The 7-2 win seemingly set the tone for more fun in Philly, as the Lightning were right to the attack early on Monday.
On the Board Early
The Lightning wasted no time getting things started offensively in this one. The goal came as a result of hard work from the Yanni Gourde line, as often sent out to set the tone for the Bolts in the early going.
It was Pontus Holmberg who got rewarded, sticking with a loose puck that kind of got lost in the slot.
He banged it home for his seventh of the season.
Holmberg's goal perfectly summed up the recent sentiment that the Lightning don't need a multitude of chances to make a team pay. In fact, throughout the nine-game winning-streak, Tampa Bay had amazingly not recorded 30 shots on goal in a game.
Their shooting percentage on the other hand has been phenomenal, as was evident when they banged home their first shot on net in this tilt.
Low-Event Hockey
It's safe to say the Flyers probably wanted a more low-event game than the two teams played on Saturday in the 7-2 Tampa victory.
They got that after the Bolts' goal. The remainder of the period was rather tight-checking, and the shots were only 6-5 Lightning after the first. That being said, Philadelphia missed a couple nets and rung iron once, and Brayden Point was stymied several times on a great chance in front of Philly starting netminder Dan Vladar.
Nonetheless, a tightly contested period played by both teams, but it was the Lightning with a 1-0 lead after the first frame.
Another Quick Start Kicks off Eventful Period
The second period began much like the first with a Tampa Bay goal. This time around it was a point drive by Erik Cernak that found a friendly bounce off Jake Guentzel, who was creating chaos in the goalmouth.
Guentzel's 20th of the season made it 2-0 Bolts just 33 seconds into the game's middle frame.
Third Goal Comes at a Cost
One would think the Lightning would be happy upon building a 3-0 lead, which they did on their first power play of the night less than five minutes into Period 2.
The drawback, though, was that as Point swung a rebound home in front, he had an awkward fall after having some serious pressure put on his leg by a Flyer defender. To put it bluntly, the injury did not look good, as 21 was able to put no pressure on the leg leaving the ice.
Point's tally loomed large after Philly fired back.
Quick Philly Response
Just over a minute later it was Christian Dvorak getting Philadelphia back within two. Simply a nice finish off the rush. For Dvorak it was his tenth marker of the season.
Not Done Yet
Tampa Bay's power play continued to fly high, even minus Point in his typical bumper spot.
The Bolts were firing away on this attempt. Before finding the back of the net Nikita Kucherov blasted a one-timer that was stopped by Vladar. The successful bid came off the stick of Brandon Hagel, and it was an impressive release.
Hagel had seemingly been injured himself earlier in the period, but returned in style to blast home this big goal to build a 4-1 Tampa lead heading into the third.
Physicality Takes Over Late
The third period featured its fair share of rough stuff. After a tough hit on Declan Carlile, a full on brawl featuring two separate and simultaneous fights took place.
There was another incident late in the game that resulted in penalties and what wasn't the only misconduct in what became a chippy affair.
The score, though, much to the delight of the Bolts, didn't change.
Multi-Point Magic
Another game, another multi-point effort from Nikita Kucherov. You could make it nine straight games with multiple points for the Lightning's star.
Kucherov put home the empty-netter that made it 5-1 Bolts late.
He has nine points in three games against Philly to boot.
A fitting end to this pair of games in Philadelphia for Kucherov and the Lightning, who scooped all four possible points in two pretty darn dominant outings inside Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Double Digits
The win, the tenth straight for Tampa Bay, ties the longest streak of any team in the NHL this season. Buffalo hit the mark once and Colorado has done it twice.
It also came in style for Head Coach Jon Cooper, winning his 600th career regular season game, good enough for 25th all time in the National Hockey League.
Three Stars of the Game
Brandon Hagel - TBL
Nikita Kucherov - TBL
Jake Guentzel - TBL
Up Next
The Lightning are back at it in short order, continuing the road trip Tuesday night in Pittsburgh against the Penguins. They'll then have a couple days off before tangling with the Blues in St. Louis Friday night.
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