Stamkos’ hat-trick helps Lightning handle Rangers
Steven Stamkos recorded his ninth career hat-trick and first in more than four years, and the Tampa Bay Lightning ran their season-high winning streak to seven games with a 6-3 victory over the visiting New York Rangers on Monday.
Stamkos recorded his first hat trick since October 13, 2014, by getting a pair of powerplay goals in the opening two periods, then adding an even-strength goal in the third.
It was the first time he scored two powerplay goals since Dec. 26, 2015, and the eighth time overall. The second goal made him the third player in team history to get reach 700 points, joining Martin St Louis (953) and Vincent Lecavalier (874).
Stamkos has eight goals in Tampa Bay’s fourth winning streak of at least seven games in the past three seasons. He finished off the hat trick with 9:19 left in the third period with a one-timer from the low slot that sailed past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
Anthony Cirelli scored twice and former Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh scored the go-ahead goal in the second period as the Lightning won for the 10th time in 11 games and scored at least five goals for the eighth time in that stretch.
Tampa Bay’s Louis Dominigue made 23 saves as he continues to fill in for starting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who returned to the ice in practice on Saturday for the
first time since breaking his foot last month. Cirelli sealed the win on an empty-netter in the final minute after New York’s Jesper Fast nearly scored his second goal of the night.
Kevin Hayes scored twice in the first period for the Rangers, who could not overcome allowing six power plays and fell to 2-5-1 in their past eight games. New York went ahead with 7:41 left in the first period when Ryan Strome made a drop pass to Hayes, whose backhand from the right circle deflected off McDonagh’s right skate and over Dominigue’s stick.
Tampa Bay tied the game on Stamkos’ one-timer from the left circle with 5:51 left in the first, but Hayes tapped in a rebound from the doorstep 58 seconds later. Tampa Bay tied the game moments after Domingue made a glove save on Hayes during an odd-man rush.
Stamkos tied the game for a second time when he ripped a rising one-timer from the left circle under the crossbar for his 700th career point. The Lightning move in front on McDonagh’s wrist shot from the right circle that trickled under Lundqvist with 7:18 left in the second. Cirelli’s takeaway on Rangers defenseman Fredrik Claesson led to him sliding the puck through the crease and past Lundqvist midway through the third period for a 4-2 lead. Stamkos capped his hat trick before Fast scored at 17:34 of the third.
HOWARD STOPS 42 SHOTS AS WINGS CLIP KINGS
Jimmy Howard made 42 saves, and Dylan Larkin scored an unassisted goal as the host Detroit Red Wings topped the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on Monday. Larkin has two goals and five assists over the past four games. Dennis Cholowski and Frans Nielsen also scored for Detroit, which bounced back from a 3-2 home loss to the New York Islanders two nights earlier.
Anze Kopitar scored the lone goal for the struggling Kings, who kept constant pressure on Howard but couldn’t break through until the third period. Jonathan Quick stopped 18 shots for the Kings, who have lost five of their past seven games. The teams were awarded just one power play apiece and didn’t score on their opportunity. The Kings had a 10-8 edge in shots on goal in the opening period, but the Red Wings scored the only goal.
Christoffer Ehn threaded a pass through traffic to Cholowski, who lifted a shot over Quick’s right shoulder just inside the crossbar at the 6:32 mark. That gave the rookie defenseman five goals this season. Jacob de la Rose also assisted on the goal. Detroit made it 2-0 at the 6:06 mark of the second period when Nielsen banged in his own rebound for his fifth goal. Andreas Athanasiou and Thomas Vanek were credited with assists. Nielsen had gone scoreless into the month of December until he collected his first goal against Boston on December 1.