Tampa Bay 4, Colorado 3
When: 9:00 PM ET, Monday, February 17, 2020
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Referees:
Steve Kozari, Pierre Lambert
Linesmen:
Derek Nansen, Bryan Pancich
Attendance:
18107
By Field Level Media
Nikita Kucherov scored at 3:03 of overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 for their franchise-best 11th straight win in Denver on Monday night.
Alex Killorn and Cameron Gaunce scored goals 16 seconds apart in the second period, Steven Stamkos also had a goal, and Curtis McElhinney made 24 saves for Tampa Bay.
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, Andre Burakovsky and Valeri Nichushkin also scored, and Gabriel Landeskog had two assists for Colorado. Mikko Rantanen added an assist before leaving with an apparent shoulder injury in the second period.
Kucherov stole the puck from MacKinnon, raced down the ice and beat Pavel Francouz through the pads to win it with his 29th goal of the season.
Francouz stopped 23 shots for the Avalanche, who were without goaltender Philipp Grubauer, sidelined indefinitely due to a lower-body injury sustained Saturday night. Forward Matt Calvert also has a lower-body injury and is expected to miss a few weeks.
The Avalanche recalled goalie Hunter Miska and forward T.J. Tynan from the Colorado Eagles of the AHL.
Burakovsky put the Avalanche ahead 1-0 at 4:49 of the first period with his 19th tally, but Tampa Bay struck quickly to take the lead in the second. Killorn tied it when he tipped in a pass from Ondrej Palat to the front of the net at 4:54. It was his 23rd of the season.
Just 16 seconds later, Gaunce's blast from the blue line beat Francouz to give the Lightning the lead. The goal was Gaunce's first in his second NHL game of the season, and the third of his 36-game career. He hadn't scored since March 24, 2017, when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Soon after, Rantanen got behind the Lightning defense but was tripped by Erik Cernak and went hard into the boards. He skated off holding his left shoulder and went straight to the locker room.
Stamkos made it 3-1 when he came from behind the net and tapped in Brayden Point's rebound that was sitting in the Colorado crease at 13:43 of the middle period. It was his 27th of the season.
MacKinnon cut the deficit to 3-2 when he beat McElhinney with his 33rd goal at 18:26 of the second. Nichushkin tied it when he deflected in a shot by Cale Makar at 12:43 of the third for his 12th goal.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Tampa Bay |
|
Colorado |
|
Cameron Gaunce 1 |
Points |
Nathan MacKinnon 2 |
|
Cameron Gaunce 1 |
Goals |
Nathan MacKinnon 1 |
|
Anthony Cirelli 1 |
Assists |
Gabriel Landeskog 2 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Andre Burakovsky 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Curtis McElhinney .889 |
Save Percentage |
Pavel Francouz .852 |
|
Curtis McElhinney 24 |
Saves |
Pavel Francouz 23 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Tampa Bay
|
27 |
4 |
0-1 |
3-4 |
12 |
22 |
| Colorado
|
27 |
3 |
1-4 |
1-1 |
6 |
35 |
Upcoming Games
-
Colorado will play their next game at home against NY Islanders. The Avalanche have a W/L % of .636 after a win and .480 after a loss.
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against Vegas. The Lightning have a W/L % of .641 after a win and .714 after a loss.
For more information, contact us