NHL

Tampa Bay Lightning at Colorado Avalanche

· National Hockey League

Nikita Kucherov scores first goal to ignite early flurry, Tampa Bay beats Colorado 5-2

Nikita Kucherov's heads-up pass leads to a Lightning goal

Jake Guentzel and Conor Geekie also scored in the early flurry against goalie Kaapo Kahkonen, who was making his season debut for Colorado after being claimed off waivers from Winnipeg.

Tampa Bay's Anthony Cirelli added an empty net goal with 1:20 left in regulation.

Ivan Ivan tipped in a shot from Cale Makar for a power-play goal late in the first period. Makar added a goal in the third period.

Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 33 saves, picking up his 299th career victory.

Makar and Nathan MacKinnon were both credited with an assist on Ivan’s goal, extending their season opening point streak to 11 games.

Takeaways Lightning: Tampa Bay matched a season high with its second three-game winning streak, continuing a pattern of strong play in the first three weeks of the season.

Avalanche: Colorado matched a season low in scoring after losing two more forwards to injury in Ross Colton (broken foot) and Miles Wood (upper-body injury). The banged-up Avalanche were already without Jonathan Drouin (upper body), captain Gabriel Landeskog (knee) and Artturi Lehkonen (shoulder).

Key moment Kucherov started the Lightning’s three-goal flurry when he put in a slapshot from the high slot just over a minute into the game, giving Tampa Bay a lead it never relinquished. Brayden Point set him up with a centering pass that Kucherov fired into the net above Kahkonen’s left shoulder.

Key stat Tampa Bay got three goals in first five shots on Colorado’s net.

Up next Tampa Bay plays the second in its four-game road trip Friday night at Minnesota. Colorado plays Saturday night at Nashville.

Regular Season Series

TB leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 1:01 Nikita Kucherov Goal (9) Slap Shot, assists: Brayden Point (4), Victor Hedman (7)
Goal 1st Period 3:36 Jake Guentzel Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: Nikita Kucherov (7), Ryan McDonagh (3)
Goal 1st Period 5:32 Conor Geekie Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Anthony Cirelli (10), Brandon Hagel (5)
Goal 1st Period 14:56 Ivan Ivan Goal (2) Tip-In, assists: Cale Makar (15), Nathan MacKinnon (12)
Goal 2nd Period 6:28 Jake Guentzel Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: Brayden Point (5), Nikita Kucherov (8)
Goal 3rd Period 10:57 Cale Makar Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Mikko Rantanen (11), Nathan MacKinnon (13)
Goal 3rd Period 18:40 Anthony Cirelli Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Brandon Hagel (6)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tb.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTB https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/col.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCOL
17 Blocked Shots 11
12 Hits 24
2 Takeaways 1
21 Shots 35
0 Power Play Goals 1
3 Power Play Opportunities 4
0.0 Power Play Percentage 25.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
28 Faceoffs Won 19
59.6 Faceoff Win Percent 40.4
18 Giveaways 9
7 Total Penalties 6
17 Penalty Minutes 26

Game Information

Ball Arena

Location: Denver, CO
Attendance: 18,019 | Capacity:

2024-25 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Florida 11 4 23 1
Toronto 9 6 20 2
Boston 8 7 18 2
Ottawa 8 7 16 0
Tampa Bay 7 6 15 1
Buffalo 7 8 15 1
Detroit 6 7 13 1
Montreal 5 9 12 2

2024-25 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Winnipeg 15 1 30 0
Minnesota 10 2 23 3
Dallas 9 5 18 0
Colorado 8 8 16 0
Utah 6 6 15 3
St. Louis 7 9 14 0
Chicago 6 9 13 1
Nashville 5 9 12 2
Full Standings