The Tampa Bay Lightning suddenly found their mojo Monday night against the Colorado Avalanche and will look to keep the offense thriving when they host the Washington Capitals Wednesday night.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper had been openly critical of his team’s overpassing and highlight-reel setups over two winless games (0-1-1), but he surely had no problem Monday when the puck found its way onto the stick of Brandon Hagel.
Known more for his speed and scoring, Hagel set a franchise record with four assists in the first period — tying an NHL record for that total in an opening frame –in his club’s 8-2 rout of the Avalanche.
Then he added a fifth helper on the second’s lone goal, a snipe by Brayden Point for his team-leading seventh on the power play.
The five assists for a game matched the franchise mark held by Mark Recchi, Martin St. Louis and teammate Darren Raddysh.
And the best compliment of them all?
“I think (Nikita Kucherov) asked if I was Bobby Orr after the first period, and I’m far from it. But I’ll take that,” Hagel said after the Atlantic Division team matched its high mark for goals scored this year.
In all, it was a dazzling display by Tampa Bay, which moved to 4-1-1 in its past six games but had recently stumbled.
Nick Perbix, Jake Guentzel and Kucherov all scored in the game’s first 10:03, chasing starting goaltender Justus Annunen as the Colorado crease became a netminding turnstile. Alexandar Georgiev allowed three more before the coaching staff decided it needed to rest him. Then Annunen returned and yielded third-period goals to Guentzel and Michael Eyssimont.
The Lightning were without Nick Paul for the third straight game. Cooper said at morning skate the club would be without the productive forward for the rest of the week.
Down in South Florida, the Washington Capitals showed they could actually win without one of the game’s premier scorers, Alex Ovechkin (broken leg).
Goaltender Logan Thompson was stellar in net with 20 saves to improve to 9-1-1, while Lars Eller scored twice and Jakob Chychrun posted a goal and two assists as Washington handed the Florida Panthers their sixth defeat in seven games, 4-1 in Sunrise.
Washington dictated play most of the night, as it hemmed the defending Stanley Cup champions into their own end by being one step ahead and relentless on the puck, constantly keeping pressure on Florida goalie Spencer Knight.
That eventually paid off with the power-play goal from Chychrun, a native of Boca Raton, just 30 minutes north of the Panthers’ arena, for the game-winner in a third period that impressed Washington coach Spencer Carbery.
“I thought the third period was our best period by far, starting with the power play to get us the lead there,” Carbery said. “We completely locked it down and carried the majority of the play in the third.
“I was really proud of that third period. That’s got to be what it looks like.”
The victory was the first in three tries with Ovechkin absent from the lineup for Washington. Wednesday marks the Caps’ second of six away contests over an eight-game span.
