Anthony Cirelli scored for the sixth game in a row, and Brandon Hagel had four of his career-high five assists during Tampa Bay’s big five-goal first period as the Lightning defeated the Colorado Avalanche 8-2 on Monday night.
Cirelli’s quick goal with just 14 seconds left in the first period extended his goal streak to six games, the longest in the NHL this season. His ninth goal of the season put the Lightning ahead 5-1. He is now two games away from tying the Tampa Bay record for the most consecutive games with a goal, a record held by Nikita Kucherov and Brian Bradley.
Hagel set a franchise record with four assists in the first period and added another assist in the second.
Jake Guentzel scored twice, Kucherov had a goal and two assists, and Nick Perbix, Luke Glendening, Brayden Point, and Michael Eyssimont also scored for Tampa Bay. The Lightning improved their home record to 7-2-1. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves in goal, and Zemgus Girgensons earned his 100th career assist.
The Lightning won both games in the season series, outscoring Colorado 13-4.
For the Avalanche, Ivan Ivan scored both of their goals in the loss. Colorado’s goaltender, Justus Annunen, was replaced in the first period after allowing three goals but later returned to play. He ended up allowing five goals on 16 shots. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 14 shots in relief.
Josh Manson played in his 600th NHL game, while Jonathan Drouin was scratched from the lineup due to an upper-body injury after scoring two goals in Saturday’s game.
In the first period, Perbix scored the game’s first goal at 5:41 with help from Eyssimont. Guentzel added another on the power play just over two minutes later, but Ivan quickly scored for Colorado on a rebound. Kucherov’s goal at the 10-minute mark chased Annunen from the game. Hagel then stripped Nathan MacKinnon of the puck during a Colorado power play and helped lead a 2-on-1 rush, which ended with Glendening scoring a short-handed goal. Cirelli then scored with just 14 seconds left in the period.
In the second period, Point scored on the power play, with an assist from Hagel, to make it 6-1.
Annunen returned to the net for the third period, and Ivan scored again for Colorado. Guentzel added another goal for the Lightning before Eyssimont scored to finish the game at 8-2.
