Lightning beat Hurricanes 3-1 for seventh straight win

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist, Nikita Kucherov had two assists and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 Sunday night for their seventh straight victory.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots and Mitchell Stephens and Brayden Point also scored for the Lightning.

Andrei Svechnikov scored for Carolina, which lost its second straight and fell to 2-2 on its seven-game homestand.

The Lightning’s winning streak includes just the second sweep of a four-game trip in franchise history. Tampa Bay at Buffalo, Montreal, Ottawa and Carolina over a six-day period.

It was a difficult night for Carolina defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who recently was selected to represent the Eastern Conference in the All-Star Game. Hamilton’s inability to keep a bouncing puck in the Tampa Bay zone turned the Lightning loose on a 2-on-1 break that led to the opening goal by Stephens 2:36 into the game.

Just 2:08 later, Stamkos scored an unassisted goal when he capitalized on a turnover by Hamilton, who was being bothered from behind by Kucherov when he lost the puck. The Hurricanes appeared to be anticipating an icing call before Hamilton tracked down the puck, but the call wasn’t made.

The Lightning scored on their first two shots on goal and led 2-0 after one period despite being outshot 13-5. Tampa Bay outshot the Hurricanes 17-5 in the second period and stretched its lead to 3-0 when Kucherov dug the puck off the boards in the corner behind the Carolina net and fed Point for a backhand shot high into the goal.

Point extended his point streak to a season-best five games (three goals, two assists). Svechnikov scored the lone goal of the third period.

NOTES: Playing games on consecutive days doesn’t seem to bother the Lightning, who are 5-1-1 on the second day of a back-to-back this season. … Kucherov extended his point streak to four games and has one goal and four assists during that stretch. … Second-year player Svechnikov has more career goals (38) and points (78) than any other player in the 2018 draft class. He was the No. 2 overall pick.

UP NEXT

Lightning: Return home to meet Vancouver on Tuesday night.

Hurricanes: Play Philadelphia on Tuesday night in the fifth game of a seven-game homestand.