Lightning 6 Kings 2 (NHL)

L.A.

The Kings knew they could not make mistakes against the NHL's best team, but Brenden Leipsic gave Braydon Colburn a high stick, picking up a double minor, and Dustin Brown hooked Brayden Point 50 seconds later that gave Tampa Bay a 5-3 opportunity, early in the 1st period. Before the ice dust settled, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point had scored and the Bolts were off and running. The game was never close.

Kurcherov had that goal and 3 assists. Steven Stamkos had a goal and 2 assists. Callahan, McDonagh, and Joseph all scored for the Lightning who have now gone 15-0-1 in their last sixteen games.

With half the season now played, Tampa Bay is 32-7-2 with 66 points and are on pace to match the 76-77 Montreal Canadians, who hold the record for most points in a season (132). Even if Toronto wins tonight, the Leafs will still be 10 points behind the Atlantic Division leaders and 3rd place Boston trails Tampa Bay by 14 points. Washington trails the Bolts by 13 points in the race for home ice in the East.

The Battle of the Bays is Saturday night, with the Bolts in San Jose. Then Tuesday night, Columbus comes to Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay's last regulation loss was back in November. I don't see this current streak lasting much longer, so I suspect the Sharks or the Jackets will put a halt to it.

Watched the replay last night since it was so late Thursday night. It was an outstanding effort by the Bolts. Vasilevskiy had a great game and 28 saves. Kucherov is still red hot and is the first player from the 2011 draft to reach the 400 point milestone! Point has three goals and 10 assists during an eight-game point streak. Victor Hedman had an assist for the fifth straight game.

Mathieu Joseph's speed to beat a defender to the puck and then flip a shot past Quick in the 3rd period was just spectacular to watch!