Stamkos gets hat trick, 700th NHL point to help Lightning top Rangers

TAMPA --Steven Stamkos scored a hat trick and surpassed 700 NHL points in the Tampa Bay Lightning's 6-3 win against the New York Rangers at Amalie Arena on Monday.

Anthony Cirelli scored twice, and Ryan McDonagh scored for the Lightning (24-7-1), who won their season-high seventh straight game, the longest active streak in the NHL. Louis Domingue made 23 saves to win his sixth start in a row.
"They kind of took it to us in the first period," Stamkos, the Tampa Bay captain, said of the Rangers, who led 2-1 after that period. "But good teams find a way to calm things down and respond. And I thought that second period was really good and we kept going from there. We're feeling really good about ourselves right now."
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Lightning highlights]
Kevin Hayes scored twice for the Rangers (14-13-3), who are 2-5-1 in their past eight games. Henrik Lundqvist made 30 saves.
"To be able to beat some of the best teams, you have to play really strict and smart," Lundqvist said. "You have to make the right decision with or without the puck."
Stamkos has 701 points (363 goals, 338 assists) in 696 NHL games. He scored his ninth NHL hat trick, the most in Lightning history, passing Martin St. Louis. His last hat trick was Oct. 13, 2014, against the Montreal Canadiens.

"I knew [my last hat trick] hadn't been in a while," Stamkos said. "I had one tonight so hopefully we'll get another quicker than last time."
He tied the game 1-1 with a power-play goal from the top of the left face-off circle at 14:09 of the first period. Stamkos' second goal, also on the power play, came from about the same spot while he was falling down to tie it 2-2 at 6:19 of the second period.
"Not sure why he fell. I gave him a good pass," Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said. "He's a natural and he's proven that for 11 years now. He's one of the best there is."
He finished the hat trick at 10:41 of the third period with a one-timer from the high slot that trickled past Lundqvist to make it 5-2.
"I'm feeling good, just feeling confident and trying to get some areas to shoot pucks," said Stamkos, who has eight goals in his past seven games. "I've been fortunate to get some good looks, especially from [Hedman] the last couple of games where he's put it in the wheelhouse."
Hayes gave New York a 1-0 lead at 12:19 of the first period and made it 2-1 at 15:07. He had a chance for a hat trick at 6:02 of the second period, but Domingue made a glove save on his 2-on-1 shorthanded opportunity.

"A big changing point in the game was my 2-on-1 shorthanded," Hayes said. "I could have made it 3-1 if I scored, and they came back and scored to make it 2-2. They kind of took it to us from there."
McDonagh put Tampa Bay ahead 3-2 at 12:42 of the second period.
Cirelli made it 4-2 at 10:17 of the third after stealing the puck from Rangers defenseman Fredrik Claesson in the offensive zone and scoring on a backhand.

"I thought we were doing a really good job in the third period," New York coach David Quinn said. "We had some zone time, had some chances and boom, a turnover in the neutral zone and it's 4-2 and before you know it it's 5-2."
Jesper Fast made it 5-3 at 17:34 of the third period.
Cirelli scored an empty-net goal with 39 seconds remaining to make it 6-3.
The Lightning's last seven-game winning streak was Dec. 2-16, 2016.
"We've had to win in different fashions," McDonagh said. "Comebacks, big leads … it was a special teams game here early tonight. Nothing seems to phase us right now."

They said it

"Ten minutes extra killing penalties is just not a recipe to have success in this league or any league really." -- Rangers coach David Quinn on New York committing seven penalties to Tampa Bay's two
"The power play bailed us out tonight or at least put us back in the game. We were a little loose today but fortunately for us they were taking quite a few penalties. Not our ideal game on this little streak that we've had." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Need to know

Stamkos is the first player from the 2008 NHL Draft to reach the 700-point mark. He is the third player from the Lightning to reach the milestone, joining St. Louis (953) and Vincent Lecavalier (874). ... Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury after taking a check from Lightning forward J.T. Miller. Shattenkirk had his left arm in a sling after the game. Quinn did not provide an update. … Hayes has four points (two goals, two assists) in the past two games. … Point had two assists and has 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in the past 14 games.

What's next

Rangers: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MSG 2, FS-A, NHL.TV)
Lightning: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SUN, SNO, NHL.TV)