Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point like playing on the same line, and it is a combination that is working out well for the Tampa Bay Lightning, too.
Kucherov on Monday had a goal and three assists for his first four-point game, while Point added a goal and two assists as the Lightning defeated the struggling New Jersey Devils 5-1.
“He’s a speedy player who is fun to play with,” Kucherov said of Point.
Point returned the compliment.
“He’s so easy to play with,” he said. “He gets the puck to me in easy places. Kuch just works some good passes and I just shoot.”
Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist, while Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde also scored to help the Lightning become the first team in the NHL to reach 20 wins this season.
Ryan McDonagh had two assists and Louis Domingue stopped 26 shots as Tampa Bay got their third straight win and the sixth in seven games.
Egor Yakovlev scored his first career goal for the Devils, who have lost six straight and eight of nine.
Keith Kinkaid started and gave up four goals on 20 shots before he was pulled after two periods. Cory Schneider made five saves in the third period.
“You have to give them credit,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “They are a heck of a hockey team. They just outworked us. Sometimes, it becomes a slippery slope. We didn’t play well enough to win the game.”
New Jersey seemed to have the better of the early play, outshooting the Lightning 7-1 over the first 10 minutes, but it did not take long for league’s top offensive team to get going.
First, Kucherov extended his points streak to 10 games with a goal with a little more than six minutes left in the first period.
Point continued his mastery over the Devils with a power-play goal with less than a minute remaining in the period. It was Point’s 20th goal of the season and his sixth goal in nine career games against New Jersey.
“I think at that point, momentum was in our favor,” veteran Stamkos said. “I think that goal took a lot out of them.”
The Lightning made it 3-0 when McDonagh’s wrist-shot was deflected in front by Johnson for his 11th at 8 minutes, 20 seconds of the second period.
The Devils crept back into the game with 8:14 left when rookie defenseman Yakovlev got his first goal, but the Lightning wasted little time to push the lead back to three when Gourde scored his 10th just 1:13 later.
Stamkos scored a power-play goal in the first 20 seconds of the third period. It was his ninth of the season.
“Maybe the pucks are bouncing well for one team,’’ said Point, who now has five goals and eight assists in his past five regular-season games against New Jersey. “`They were competing. They were finishing their checks. We just played well.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS