Jake Guentzel stays hot as Lightning defeats Kraken

Jake Guentzel scored a goal and added an assist for the sixth straight game as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the host Seattle Kraken 5-1 on Saturday night.

Brandon Hagel scored twice, Brayden Point contributed a goal and an assist, Nikita Kucherov had two helpers and Declan Carlile, who was recalled earlier in the day, scored his first NHL goal for the Lightning, who are 3-1 in their four games Western swing ended :0. Goalkeeper Jonas Johansson made a save in his first appearance since 11/29/21.

Brandon Montour scored for Seattle, which lost in regulation time for just the second time in its last seven games (4-2-1). Philipp Grubauer stopped 26 of 30 shots.

The Lightning led 2-1 and finished the game with three goals in the third period.

The first came on the power play at 4:03, after Point’s shot from the high slot was deflected by defenseman Will Borgen. The puck flew towards the net and Güntzel pushed it between Grubauer’s pads.

Hagel scored an empty-netter at 16:08 and Carlile beat Grubauer with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle at 19:38.

The Kraken opened the scoring on the power play at 4:24 of the first period when Montour’s shot from the blue line beat a screened Johansson.

During the first TV timeout of the opening period, Lightning coach Jon Cooper marched from end to end to provide some heated encouragement to his team, which had been down 7-0 up to that point.

Whatever Cooper said paid off, as Tampa Bay equalized shortly thereafter. The Lightning dumped the puck into the right corner and won a race, pushing it over the boards back to Nick Perbix at the top of the faceoff circle. Perbix floated the puck toward the net and Hagel shot it past Grubauer at 8:16.

The Lightning took the lead 13:21. Grubauer parried Darren Raddysh’s first shot with a kick, but the rebound ended up low. Point pushed the puck between Grubauer’s pads and scored his 20th goal.

Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury despite participating in the morning skate. Seattle forward Yanni Gourde, who won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning before being selected by the Kraken in the 2021 expansion draft, missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury.

–Field level media