Victor Hedman scored twice, leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night.
Nikita Kucherov and Anthony Cirelli also found the net for the Lightning, who secured their second consecutive win to conclude a six-game road trip, their longest of the season.
Steven Stamkos recorded three assists in his 900th NHL game.
“That was special to do,” Stamkos said. “I’m just proud to have been part of this organization for all 900 of those games, and hopefully, there’s more to come.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves, earning his 32nd win, the most in the league.
Yanni Gourde scored his 14th goal for the Kraken, now losing five of their last six and 12 of their last 14. Gourde, a former Tampa Bay player selected by Seattle in the expansion draft, also took the team lead with 36 points.
Phillip Grubauer made 35 saves for Seattle.
Gourde put the Kraken up 1-0 just 2 1/2 minutes into the game, scoring a power-play goal from the right circle. It was the fifth consecutive game in which Gourde registered a point, marking his longest season streak.
The Lightning equalized with 13:34 left in the first period when Stamkos set up Kucherov on a 2-on-1 rush for a powerful finish.
Tampa Bay took the lead with a power-play goal from Hedman with about 11 minutes remaining in the second period. Stamkos again played a crucial role, flipping the puck back to Hedman for a one-timer from the blue line.
“He’s been on fire with his shot lately,” Stamkos said. “That’s huge for us.”
The Lightning extended their lead just 23 seconds into the third period. Brayden Point’s breakaway was initially stopped by Grubauer, but in the ensuing chaos, Cirelli managed to push the puck into the open net.
“That was a perfect opening shift for the third period. We talked about not sitting back and staying aggressive,” Stamkos said. “Pointer just flew up the ice, creating that opportunity.”
Seattle coach Dave Hakstol pointed to Cirelli’s goal as the game-changer.
“That was chaos in our crease. That goal created the separation they needed,” Hakstol said. “We couldn’t regain momentum after that.”
Hedman sealed the win with another power-play goal, his sixth goal in the past six games, with 5 1/2 minutes left in the game.
“The main focus is getting points to reach the playoffs,” Cirelli said. “We did a great job fighting through these last two games and came away with two big wins to end the trip.”
Game Notes
Seattle traded forward Calle Jarnkrok to Calgary for three draft picks. Jarnkrok has 26 points in 49 games this season. More trades are expected from the Kraken, with captain Mark Giordano and forwards Marcus Johansson and Riley Sheahan also possible candidates before Monday’s deadline. The Kraken honored Giordano before the game for reaching 1,000 NHL games, though he was held out of the lineup to prevent injury. Stamkos became the third player in Tampa Bay history to reach 900 games played, joining Vincent Lecavalier (1,037 games) and Martin St. Louis (972).
UP NEXT
- Tampa Bay: Hosts the New York Rangers on Saturday.
- Seattle: Hosts the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
