The Tampa Bay Lightning are enjoying their best stretch of the season, but there is cause for concern as they prepare to host the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.
Coach Jon Cooper’s team earned its 11th win in the past 14 outings (11-3-0) in a wild 5-3 affair at the Washington Capitals on Saturday night, which helped the squad climb in the standings even further.
Buoyed by the run, the Lightning have risen from mid-pack in the Atlantic Division to second place, trailing the Detroit Red Wings by one point with one game in hand.
However, Saturday’s victory in the nation’s capital may have come at a cost, as dynamic scorers Nikita Kucherov, who had a goal and two assists, and Brayden Point both suffered injuries.
Kucherov played just 5:18 and departed in the second period after a hard check from Washington’s Tom Wilson knocked the Russian right winger into the referee along the boards.
Point skated for 11:29 and tried one shift in the third, but he left and never came back.
Brandon Hagel (two goals, two assists) said he and his teammates hunkered down as the Capitals cut it to 4-3 at 5:24 of the third period.
“On any team when you lose two of your best players, you can tighten up and get a little bit … I don’t know, it can deflate you,” said Hagel, who has nine goals and 10 helpers. “Everyone seemed to pick that 5% up for those guys throughout the lineup. Battled, dug deep, kept it simple and we were able to do it. It shows the depth on our team.”
Kucherov was ruled out late in the game, and Cooper had no update afterward.
The Flyers trounced the Metropolitan Division’s second-place club, the New Jersey Devils, 6-3 at home on Saturday night.
In winning for the third time in the past four outings and doing it by more than one goal, Philadelphia avoided going to overtime — a remarkable accomplishment considering its recent run.
Coach Rick Tocchet’s group needed extra time to decide a winner in five of its last seven games entering the Devils matchup. The Flyers went 3-0-2 in those games and are 5-1-2 in the past eight outings overall.
Tocchet has placed an emphasis on improving the Flyers’ special teams. The club ranked fifth (85.0%) on the penalty kill and 23rd (17.5%) on the power play as of Sunday.
“Most PKs are pressure,” Tocchet said. “You need to make plays under pressure. Are we there yet? Getting better. But we’re not there yet.
“We have to know when to attack (on the power play). These are the things when the power play doesn’t go well — you are not dealing with pressure properly or you’re not working hard enough. We’re close, but we have to keep working on it.”
Tyson Foerster and Trevor Zegras have a team-high seven goals apiece, and Zegras leads with 14 assists and 21 points.
The matchup is the first between the teams, who will meet twice in three days from Jan. 10-12 in Philadelphia.
