The Tampa Bay Lightning (41-24-4) defeated the Seattle Kraken (31-27-9) 6-2 on Tuesday night at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. The win gave Tampa Bay a victory in the first game of a four-game road trip through Seattle and Western Canada.
Nikita Kucherov had a hat trick and two assists in the winning effort. Brandon Hagel added a four-point night in his own right, scoring a goal and three assists.
The Lightning scored twice in the first period thanks to goals from Gage Goncalves and the first from Nikita Kucherov. Kucherov's second goal came fifty-seven seconds into the second period to give Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead.
The Kraken answered with two goals in the second to pull within 3-2, before Tampa Bay answered in the third period. Anthony Cirelli scored at the 4:35 mark to make it 4-2, before Brandon Hagel's power play goal made it 5-2. Then Kucherov scored on the empty net to earn the hat trick and make it a 6-2 final score.
Andrei Vasilevskiy got the win in net, saving 16 of the 18 shots he faced. Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer went 19-of-24 in net in the losing effort.
The Lightning next travel to Vancouver to play the Canucks on Thursday night. Puck drop from Rogers Arena in Vancouver is scheduled for 10:00 PM on Thursday between the Lightning and Canucks.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES