Nikita Kucherov registered a goal and three assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning rode a three-goal first period en route to a sweep of their three-game homestand in a 5-3 win against the New York Islanders on Saturday afternoon.
Kucherov, Nick Perbix and Brayden Point all potted first-period goals as the Lightning (43-25-5, 91 points) blitzed the visitors in the opening frame after having four-goal periods on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Thursday against the Utah Hockey Club.
However, Tampa Bay had to withstand a three-goal third by the Islanders and hold on for the sweep, running their home record to 27-8-2 and 16-2-1 since Jan. 1.
Point added his team-high 38th tally in the second period off a pass from the high-scoring Kucherov, whose three points gave him 11 on the red-hot homestand and 109 overall. Jake Guentzel scored into an empty net with 14 seconds left.
Star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy led the club out onto the ice, but backup Jonas Johansson made his first start since March 13 and stopped 35 shots.
In dropping their fourth straight (0-2-2), the Islanders (32-30-10, 74 points) hurt their wild-card playoff chances and sit three points back of the New York Rangers, who hold the second wild-card spot.
Ryan Pulock, Marc Gatcomb and Tony DeAngelo each scored, while goalie Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves.
In the second meeting between the clubs, both in Tampa, Kucherov quickly extended his point streak to eight games by ripping a shot from the right circle at the 2:02 mark for his 106th point. Perbix pushed the lead to 2-0 when a puck bounced out to him at 7:31.
Over 10 minutes later, Point one-timed a pass from Ryan McDonagh for a 3-0 lead.
During a delayed penalty on the Islanders’ Pierre Engvall, Point finished a crisp passing sequence by whipping home the club’s fourth goal with just 17 seconds left in the second period.
On the Islanders’ second power play, Pulock blistered a long slapper to break the ice at 5:58, the first of three New York goals in a span of 3:49. Gatcomb and DeAngelo completed the scoring for the Islanders to make it 4-3 before Guentzel’s empty-netter sealed the win for Tampa Bay.
