Ondrej Palat scored twice and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.
Ben Bishop stopped 20 shots to win his fifth consecutive start to help the Lightning extending a season-best point streak to seven games (5-0-2), the team’s longest since winning nine straight from Feb. 18 to March 5 last season.
Vladislav Namestnikov added an empty-netter in the final second.
Kucherov assisted on each of Palat’s goals before scoring his 22nd of the season for a 3-1 lead less than a minute into the third period. Edmonton countered quickly, but Oscar Kiefborn’s goal just over a minute later was waved off when Tampa Bay successfully challenged that the Oilers were offside before scoring.
Iiro Pakarinen scored his first goal of the season for the Oilers, who had won three straight heading into the second stop on a six-game road trip. Leading scorer Connor McDavid also saw a four-game point streak (two goals, five assists) end.
READ MORE: Connor McDavid named NHL third star of the week
With starting goalie Cam Talbot resting, backup Laurent Brossoit finished with 24 saves for the Oilers, yielding goals to Palat in the first and second periods before Kucherov restored a two-game lead for the Lightning at 49 seconds of the third.
NOTES: Tampa Bay C Steven Stamkos, out since undergoing right knee surgery in November, is skating and shooting the puck on his own before practice. … Oilers D Kris Russell returned after missing five games due to a groin injury. … Kucherov’s second assist gave him 200 career points. He leads the Lightning with 53 this season. … Tyler Johnson had two assists for the Lightning. … Pakarinen, activated from injured reserve last week after being sidelined since early October, has seven career goals in 84 games. He has two goals in three games against Tampa Bay. … Both teams were 0 for 1 on the power-play, with the Lightning not allowing a power-play goal for the fourth straight game.
UP NEXT:
Oilers: At Florida on Wednesday night, the third stop on a six-game trip.
Lightning: Host Calgary on Thursday night in the second of four consecutive home games.
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