Steven Stamkos scored twice in a three-point outing, Tampa Bay’s power play went 3-for-3, and the Lightning grounded the visiting Anaheim Ducks 5–1 on Saturday night, Jan. 13.
Stamkos’ tallies lifted his career number of power-play goals to 204, tying him with Wayne Gretzky for 17th all-time in NHL history.
He also produced an assist on Victor Hedman’s score in a three-goal second period for the Lightning, who tied their season high with a third straight win and moved to 13–3–1 against the Ducks since the 2014–15 season.
Nikita Kucherov recorded three assists—all in the second period—for the 20th three-point frame of his career. The high-scoring right winger also eclipsed 800 points with the helpers, joining Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier in achieving the milestone.
Calvin de Haan and Brandon Hagel had even-strength goals. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 shots and defenseman Max Crozier made his NHL debut as Tampa Bay won its fourth consecutive home game.
Anaheim’s Frank Vatrano hit the net for the Ducks, who are 0–2–0 on their season-long six-game road trip.
Goalie Lukas Dostal made 36 saves but Anaheim lost for the seventh time in eight games (1–6–1).
After a scoreless, penalty-free first period, the Lightning’s elite power play took control of the game in a penalty-filled second.
They earned the match’s first power play when Anaheim’s Ross Johnston received a double-minor for roughing Austin Watson.
The unit then cashed in on some quick puck movement from Kucherov to Stamkos to Hedman. The defenseman then blasted home his seventh goal through traffic at 5:09.
After Vatrano went off for tripping de Haan, Stamkos pushed it to 2–0 when he slid a rebound through Dostal’s pads at 10:56.
The teams’ first meeting became testy at 12:59 when Hedman chopped Johnston’s stick in half after a bump during a stoppage in play, leading to a game misconduct for Hedman and an Anaheim man advantage.
Vatrano made Tampa Bay pay when he one-timed his club-leading 21st goal at 13:20, but Stamkos answered with another power-play marker 1:27 later—the captain’s 18th goal overall.
The Lightning’s de Haan (second goal) and Hagel (13th) accounted for the third period’s scoring.
