Point scores twice to propel Lightning past Blackhawks

TAMPA -- Brayden Point scored two goals, including the game-winner with 1:00 left in the third period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 at Amalie Arena on Saturday.

Point made it 2-1 with a shot from the high slot off a pass by Nikita Kucherov.
"Just a turn up and 'Kuch' makes a good play off the wall to kind of find me in the slot, and I'm just getting a puck on net," Point said. "It was a good screen in front by [Brandon Hagel] and it just finds a way in."
Point, who has 11 goals in the past 11 games, has an NHL career-high 43 goals in 66 games this season. He scored 41 in 79 games in 2018-19.
"I'm trying to shoot and sometimes it's a numbers game," the forward said. "The more you shoot, the better chance you have to score."

Hagel scored, and Mikhail Sergachev had two assists for the Lightning (39-21-6), who won for the second time in their past eight games. Brian Elliott made 22 saves.
Tampa Bay is third in the Atlantic Division, four points behind the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs.
"In the end it's a 1-1 game with five minutes to go and you win it in regulation," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "That's got to be a step forward. I liked how we pushed at the end. It would have been nice to do that the whole game. We didn't, but when it counted we did."
Taylor Raddysh scored, and Petr Mrazek made 34 saves for the Blackhawks (22-38-6), who have lost seven of eight and were coming off a 4-3 overtime loss at the Florida Panthers on Friday.
"Overall, I thought our game was pretty good," Chicago forward Tyler Johnson said. "I thought we had a lot of chances, and Mrazek was unbelievable and kept us in it. It was a close game. ... It came down to the end there. I wish that wouldn't happen, but you have to take some positives."
Point gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 6:21 of the second period when he stuffed in his own rebound after Victor Hedman found him open in the slot.
"Unbelievable player," Hedman said of Point. "He scores a lot of goals from the slot but in different ways. Different kinds of goals today, one was a little lower and one was a little higher. He's always in the right spot."
Raddysh tied it 1-1 at 5:23 of the third with a one-timer from the left face-off circle off Cole Guttman's pass from below the goal line.
"I think our guys are a little bit deflated after two nights of great effort against two great teams down here," Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. "We just have to reassure [them] that they did a lot of things right and that we're going in the right direction.
"We'll learn from this. When you turn the corner, the lessons of losing in the last minute turn into winning in the last minute."

After Point put Tampa Bay ahead, Hagel scored into an empty net with two seconds left for the 3-1 final.
Lightning forward Steven Stamkos left the game with an apparent left leg injury after a battle along the boards with Blackhawks forward Joey Anderson late in the first period.
"I think he's going to be OK," Cooper said. "We just kept him out for precaution. We'll check him out tomorrow, but hopefully he'll be OK."
Stamkos skated off on his own. He is second on Tampa Bay with 27 goals in 66 games and third with 66 points (39 assists).
"It's obviously tough to see, but down a man I think we did a good job managing the lines," Point said. "I liked our effort tonight after he went down."
NOTES: Tampa Bay (24-5-5) has the second-best home record in the NHL behind the Boston Bruins (27-3-3). ... Elliott is 5-0-0 with four goals allowed in his past five starts against the Blackhawks. ... Kucherov extended his home point streak to 24 games (43 points; eight goals, 35 assists). … Hedman had an assist and two shots on goal in 24:07 after missing two games with an upper-body injury. ... Raddysh has three goals in the past three games. ... Mrazek is 3-12-3 against Tampa Bay.