Lightning Slay the Kraken

The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night 6-2, extending their winning streak to three.

Bolts Nation

The Lightning started the game strong, with Ian Cole netting the first score of the night in under two minutes. This was just Cole’s third goal on the year. Earlier in the season, Cole faced a week-long suspension after being accused of sexual misconduct and abuse, but nothing came of the allegations after the NHL could not find enough evidence to substantiate the claim.

https://twitter.com/TBLightning/status/1602820477109796865

Then at the 7:24-minute mark, Erik Cernak slipped another by Philipp Grubauer, putting the Bolts up 2-0. Both goals were assisted by veteran right wing Nikita Kucherov, who is on his ninth season in Tampa Bay.

Cernak grabs his first of the season!! pic.twitter.com/1QxVVx6XFl

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 14, 2022

Unleash the Kraken

Seattle did not let the first period go by unchecked. After a face-off win by Matty Beniers, Jordan Eberle secured an opportunity for Jared McCann to score on Andrei Vasilevskiy at 18:39.

The rest of the period went by with no blood loss from either team; 2-1 Bolts at the end of the first.

Lightning Push Ahead

The second period was fruitful for the Lightning. Goals by Corey Perry, Brayden Point and Ross Colton, extended Tampa Bay’s lead to 5-1. During the five minutes of this scoring, Seattle only took one shot – a miss by Andre Burakovsky.

Since we're still not over it … gonna have to give Pointer tonight's @NewAmsterdam Goal of the Game! pic.twitter.com/ZKwvsHB8eT

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 14, 2022

Closing it Out

After starting the period with penalties flying, the Lightning were the first to add to the scoreboard. At 5:29, captain Steven Stamkos put up Tampa’s final goal for the night. Stamkos leads the Lightning with 1,006 points: 497 goals and 509 assists.

https://twitter.com/TBLightning/status/1602850459542523904

Finally, it was too little, too late for the Kraken, when Ryan Donato tacked on a last-minute-goal at 19:55. After the face-off, time expired in Amelie Arena, and the Lightning won 6-2.

Coming Up

On Thursday, the Lightning will host the Columbus Blue Jackets. While Tampa Bay sits third in the Atlantic Division with an 18-9-1 record, Columbus is dragging in the Metropolitan Division. It sits last with a 10-16-2 record, on a one-game losing streak.

Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.