Lighting goalie Vasilevskiy gets 150th NHL win against Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist for his fifth straight multi-point game, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy picked up his 150th career NHL win and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 on Friday night.

Vasilevskiy — who has 13 straight wins in regulation — stopped 23 shots. He is the fourth goalie in league history to get 150 victories in less than 250 games played (246). The others are Ken Dryden (241), Andy Moog (245) and Braden Holtby (246).

Cirelli had the go-ahead goal with 1:02 remaining in the second period when Jan Rutta’s shot deflected off his skate and past Anaheim goaltender John Gibson. Kucherov— who has nine goals in the last 10 games — put it out of reach midway through the third period when he split the Anaheim defense and put a backhander past Gibson.

Troy Terry scored with 11.9 seconds remaining for Anaheim to get within a goal.

Anthony Cirelli also had a goal and an assist, while Ondrej Palat and Erik Cernak also scored for the Lightning.

Rickard Rakell had a goal and an assist for Anaheim, which has gone 3-3 in its last six games. Michael Del Zotto and Terry also scored for the Ducks. Gibson made 18 saves.

Palat opened the scoring at 4:07 with his first goal in 12 games. Cirelli dumped the puck into the Ducks’ zone and then chased it behind the net before feeding it to Palat for his 13th of the season.

Rakell tied it four minutes later with a wrist shot, beating Vasilevskiy through a screen. Rakell fanned on his first shot before regaining possession and firing a shot after making a spin move to get free from Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.

Cernak put Tampa Bay back on top with 5:17 remaining in the first when he took a pass from Brayden Point and tapped it past Gibson. It is the first time the second-year defenseman has scored in back-to-back games. Del Zotto evened it with 1:31 left with a wrist shot through traffic.

HONORING KOBE

Gibson wore a Kobe Bryant tribute mask for the game. The mask featured a silhouette of Kobe and Gianna Bryant, surrounded by the names of the seven other victims of last Sunday’s fatal helicopter crash. The mask also included the years of all five of his championships and his 81-point game. Bryant’s jersey numbers of No. 24 and 8 were also prominently displayed on both sides.

NOTES: Kucherov has 11 points (six goals, five assists) over the past six games. … Steven Stamkos also extended his point streak to six games with an assist on Kucherov’s goal. … Patrick Maroon’s second-period assist gave him a point in 11 straight games against Anaheim.

UP NEXT

Lightning: At San Jose Sharks on Saturday to complete a four-game trip.

Ducks: At Los Angeles Kings on Saturday in this season’s third installment of the Freeway Series.