Stamkos’ hat trick powers Lightning

Steven Stamkos and the Lightning are piling up points.

Stamkos had three goals to become the first player from the 2008 draft to reach 700 points, and the NHL-leading Lightning won their seventh consecutive game by beating the visiting Rangers 6-3 on Monday night.

“Stammer is finding his groove,” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper said.

Stamkos scored power-play goals that tied the game in the first and second periods. The center completed his ninth hat trick and first since Oct. 13, 2014, against Montreal from the slot at 10:41 of the third.

“I knew it had been a while,” Stamkos said with a laugh. “I don’t know the exact date. I don’t want to hear it.”

The Lightning center, coming off a two-goal, two-assist performance in Saturday night’s 7-1 win over the Avalanche, has 701 points in 696 career games. He joins Martin St. Louis (953) and Vincent Lecavalier (874) as the only Tampa Bay players to reach the 700-point milestone. Penguins 2, Islanders 1: Jake Guentzel scored the decisive goal in the shootout to lift Pittsburgh over host New York. Guentzel also assisted on Derick Brassard’s tying goal in the third period, helping the Penguins improve to 3-0-1 in their past four games. Red Wings 3, Kings 1: Jimmy Howard made a season-high 42 saves and Dylan Larkin scored his 12th goal of the season to lift host Detroit. Dennis Cholowski and Frans Nielsen also scored the Red Wings, who improved to 13-6-2 in their past 21 games.