Lightning Not Ready to Go Away Any Time Soon

Good morning and happy Wednesday, January 11th.

Congrats to our readers who predicted Ilya Sorokin would have the highest save percentage in yesterday's poll. His incredible .962 save percentage bested Igor Shesterkin (.906) and Connor Hellebuyck (.727) last night.

On a night when his team scored six goals, Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper couldn’t forget that his group gave up three goals.

“The guys like scoring goals, we like scoring goals, but we got away with giving up three,” Cooper said after a 6-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

That’s the kind of attitude you have when you are in pursuit of a fourth consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Lightning are not favored for the return trip, but they have played well enough this season to remind the hockey world that they are, at the very least, a threat to do it again.

 Nikita Kucherov posted two goals and two assists to lead the Tampa Bay offense in its eighth consecutive home win. Kucherov boasts 12 points in his past eight games.

Brayden Point scored in his ninth consecutive home game, tying him with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid for the NHL’s longest home scoring streak of the season. It’s also a Lightning team record.

Steven Stamkos contributed two assists to give him a team-record 300 home assists in his legendary Lightning career. He broke a tie with Martin St. Louis.

The Lightning never let you forget how talented they are. They have won 11 playoff series over the past three seasons, and history says they likely can’t keep it going. The Atlantic Division rival Boston Bruins seem like the team to beat this season. 

But the Lightning’s .654 winning percentage still ranks seventh in the NHL this season. Their +24 goal-differential ranks fifth.

The Lightning (25-13-1) are not behaving like a team planning to fade away any time soon.

🐧 Pittsburgh Penguins score five straight for comeback win over the Canucks. Rather then be discouraged by finding themselves down 3-0 just over seven minutes into regulation, the Pens got to work. Evgeni Malkin went on a tear scoring two goals and adding two assists in the first and second period. And Sidney Crosby scored his team-leading 21st goal (watch here), tying him with Teemu Selanne for 17th on the NHL's all-time point list.

🏆 Matty Beniers scored for the fifth straight game to set a new Kraken record. The rookie forward gave the Kraken their first lead of the game just a minute into the third period (watch the goal here) and added an assist on Justin Schultz's game winner in the Kraken's 4-3 win over the Sabres last night. His 16 goals are second to only Jared McCann on the team. The victory was the Kraken's 6th in a row and another to add to their stellar road record. 

TRIVIA: Who holds the NHL's all-time record for longest goal-scoring streak by a rookie of 14 games? Hint: the record was set in the 1917-18 season. Bonus: Who in the 1992-93 season set separate 9-game and 8-game goal streaks as a rookie?

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TRIVIA ANSWER:

Joe Malone holds the NHL's all-time record for scoring in 14 consecutive games as a rookie in 1917-18. In 1992-93 Teemu Selanne had 9-game and 8-game scoring streaks as a rookie, the longest goal scoring streaks by a rookie since.