Lightning strike Devils hard
NEWARK: Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists for his first four-point game, leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to an easy 5-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Monday night.
Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, Steven Stamkos added a goal and an assist, and Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde also scored to help the Lightning become the first team in the league 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 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.
At Nashville, Kevin Fiala scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period to lead Nashville to a 2-1 win over the Sabres.
Ryan Ellis also scored and Pekka Rinne stopped 20 shots to help the Predators win their second straight.
Sam Reinhart had a goal for Buffalo, who have lost three straight after a 10-game winning streak. Carter Hutton had 23 saves.
Rinne denied a slap shot from the Sabres’ Jack Eichel with 15.4 seconds remaining to preserve the victory.
At Dallas, Jamie Benn scored his fifth goal in six games, helping Dallas beat Edmonton 4-1.
Jason Dickinson, Brett Ritchie and Esa Lindell also scored in the Stars’ third straight win. Mattias Janmark had two assists and Anton Khudobin stopped 28 shots.