A good start helped the Tampa Bay Lightning earn their seventh win of the year on Wednesday.
The Lightning scored three goals in the first six minutes of the first period and moved on to beat Colorado 5-2 at Ball Arena. Tampa Bay is 7-3-0 this season.
Up next for Tampa Bay is Friday’s game in Minnesota against the Wild.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL 1, COL 0
1:01 Nikita Kucherov (9) - Brayden Point, Victor Hedman
Tampa Bay’s leading goal scorer secured his ninth goal of the season just over a minute into action on Wednesday. Nikita Kucherov wound up for a slap shot from the high slot, sending a one-timer through Colorado goalie Kaapo Kahkonen off a pass from Brayden Point.
TBL 2, COL 0
3:36 Jake Guentzel (3) - Kucherov, McDonagh
Forward Jake Guentzel followed Kucherov’s goal with one of his own, shelfing a shot near the right post after Kucheov took the puck behind the net and reversed a pass to a waiting Guentzel.
TBL 3, COL 0
5:32 Conor Geekie (2) - Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel
Rookie Conor Geekie extended the Tampa Bay lead to 3-0, finishing a passing play with linemates Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel with a tap-in at the left goalpost.
TBL 3, COL 1
14:56 Ivan Ivan (2) - Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon - PP
Colorado got their first goal of the night on the power play, as Ivan Ivan deflected a blueline shot from Cale Makar with about five minutes left in the first period.
Shots: TBL 10, COL 8
2nd Period
TBL 4, NSH 1
6:28 Guentzel (3) - Point, Kucherov
Guentzel scored the lone goal of the second period, his second goal of the night, when a shot by his linemate, Point, bounced off the post and to Guentzel’s stick. The latter tapped it into an open net to restore the three-goal lead.
Shots: TBL 9, COL 14
3rd Period
TBL 4, COL 2
10:57 Makar (4) - Mikko Rantanen, MacKinnon
Makar pulled Colorado within a pair of Tampa Bay halfway through the third period. Makar ended a lengthy offensive zone push by the Avalanche as his wrist shot from the blue line sifted through a screened Vasilevskiy.
18:40 Cirelli (2) - Hagel - EN
Cirelli capped the scoring with a win-sealing empty net goal in the final minutes of the game.
Total shots: COL 35, TBL 21
