Lightning defeat Bruins, extend point streak to 8

TAMPA -- Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov scored for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who extended their point streak to eight games with a 3-1 win against the Boston Bruins at Amalie Arena on Wednesday.

Mitchell Chaffee also scored for the Lightning (40-25-7), who are 7-0-1 during the streak. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves.

"I thought we were consistent for the whole 60. It felt like playoff hockey out there," Vasilevskiy said. "I know they were on a back-to-back, but we took advantage. I feel like we're growing together as a team. We're hunting for a playoff spot, and just because we've won our last few games, it doesn't mean we're already there. Just gotta keep pushing, keep trying."

Tampa Bay holds the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference and moved to within two points of the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division.

"Tonight was one of our more complete games," Point said. "Good attention to detail. Boston is a great team and they're going to get chances, but I thought we did a good job of tracking them when they did, and obviously 'Vasy' made some really huge saves for us."

Danton Heinen scored for the Bruins (42-17-15), who defeated the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Tuesday but have lost three of four. Linus Ullmark made 28 saves.

The Bruins, who could have clinched a playoff berth with one point, remain two points ahead of the Panthers for first in the Atlantic.

"I didn't think either team was really on top of their game, to be honest," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. "I think they were traveling back from the West Coast, so I don't think they were as sharp as they've been and the intensity and the emotion in the game was not the same as last night.”

Chaffee gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 10:06 of the first period. He got behind Bruins forward James van Riemsdyk and received a pass from Nicholas Paul before lifting in a shot glove side from the low slot.

Heinen tied it 1-1 at 17:11. Pavel Zacha took control of a loose puck along the back wall and passed to Heinen, who scored with a wrist shot from the right circle.

"Tough loss. Obviously, we weren't at our best and didn't deserve to win," Bruins forward David Pastrnak said. "The outcome is just as it should be. Tough power play, we couldn't get it going ... 6-on-5 tough, we couldn't get in the zone."

Point gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead at 6:50 of the second period, scoring on a wraparound after he gained control of a shot off the end boards from Emil Lilleberg.

"I like to win every game I play. Right now it seems like I'm letting in one too many," Ullmark said. "But I also could be speaking out of my emotions right now. ... Maybe tomorrow I can take a better look at it."

Steven Stamkos appeared to give the Lightning a 3-1 lead at 6:02 of the third period, but the Bruins successfully challenged the play for offside.

However, Kucherov scored an empty-net goal at 19:33 for the 3-1 final. Kucherov leads the NHL with 124 points (42 goals, 82 assists), one more than Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.

"I'm not going to take anything away from what we did. I thought we played strong from the drop of the puck right to the end," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Boston had a really hard-fought game last night, found a way to dig in, come back and get that win. The message to the guys was, there are times you should catch a team that might be a little tired. Getting the lead was big for us tonight. But I thought ... take advantage of a team that emptied the tank the night before and we did."

NOTES: Kucherov's 42 goals are an NHL career high. He scored 41 in 2018-19. ... Point has scored 10 goals in his past seven games. ... Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman had an assist and has 70 points (12 goals, 58 assists) this season, the third time he has reached the mark. He joined Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins (five), Brent Burns of the Carolina Hurricanes (three) and John Carlson of the Washington Capitals (three) as the only active defensemen with at least three 70-point seasons. ... Point and Hedman each returned after missing the Lightning’s 3-2 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday because of a lower-body injury. … Bruins forward Brad Marchand had two shots on goal but has not scored in his past eight games. He is one shy of 400 in the NHL. ... Boston is 4-3-4 in the second half of a back-to-back.