Kucherov hat trick powers Lightning past Flyers

Nikita Kucherov had a hat trick and an assist for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 6-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Kucherov has five career hat tricks and is the first player in the NHL to reach 80 points (31 goals, 49 assists) this season.

Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel each had a goal and an assist for the Lightning (25-18-5), who have won six of their past seven. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves.

"Tonight we got in lanes [defensively], we did a lot of good things," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "There were a couple of times we were hemmed in our zone a bit, but I never felt it was a huge stressful situation. But let's be honest, they've got a really good team over there. There's a reason they are still ahead of us in the standings."

Cam Atkinson had a goal and an assist for the Flyers (25-17-6), who have lost three straight. Samuel Ersson made 15 saves.

"They're not as deep as they used to be, they rely on their power play quite a bit, and we take two stupid penalties," Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. "[Sean Walker's] penalty is just ridiculous ... Cam's penalty ... and they make you pay. We were chasing the game. We fought, we kept on trying to get back in it, but it doesn't take them much to score a goal on a power play."

Point gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead 1:46 into the first period with a redirection off a shot from Maxwell Crozier, who got his first NHL point in his fifth game.

"[Crozier] is getting more and more confident the more games he plays," Cooper said. "He's got poise. It was a heck of a play he made on that goal to get that by some shin pads. I think we had 23 shots blocked tonight, but thank goodness that wasn't one of them. And 'Pointer' finishes that off."

Kucherov extended the lead to a 2-0 at 18:45 with a one-timer off cross-ice pass from Hagel as a power play expired.

Kucherov made it 3-0 with a power-play goal from the low slot at 2:24 of the second period.

Kucherov has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in his past six games but scored his first goal in seven.

"He's a pleasure to watch every night, he is definitely worth the price of admission," Cooper said. "We've been watching this all year. As we're fighting teams like this for a playoff spot there's a couple of guys you look to, but first and foremost you're looking to him. Fabulous player, unique, elite. I don't know what else to say about him. I'm running out of words."

Atkinson scored for Philadelphia to make it 3-1 at 9:56 with a tip-in from close range off a centering pass from Morgan Frost.

"We had opportunities we could've buried, myself included," Atkinson said. "I could've had way more than one goal. We did a good job trying to fight back, but ultimately we didn't get the job done."

Jamie Drysdale made it 3-2 at 14:04 with a power-play goal off a shot from the left circle. It was the defenseman's first goal for the Flyers since being traded from the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 8.

Michael Eyssimont made it 4-2 at 17:42 with a power-play goal off a pass from Kucherov.

"You have to be aware and know who you're out there with," Eyssimont said. "When you're out there with [Kucherov], just get open."

Cam York made it 4-3 at 42 seconds of the third period when he scored on a rebound off his own shot, knocking the puck out of midair past Vasilevskiy.

Hagel pushed the lead back to 5-3 with an empty-net goal at 19:00, and Kucherov completed his hat trick with an empty net goal at 19:49 for the 6-3 final.

"Obviously they've got a lot of skilled players and they are very good at what they do," Ersson said. "But I think maybe we made them look good today too. Also for us knowing we had to do a better job of staying out of the box and not taking unnecessary penalties."

Philadelphia announced earlier Tuesday that goalie Carter Hart would be away from the team on an indefinite leave of absence. Ersson is likely to get the bulk of the starter's action while Hart is away.

"Sam's played very well," Tortorella said. "I'm totally confident in Sam."

NOTES: Kucherov has four games of four or more points this season and has scored three or more points in four of the past eight games. ... Kucherov has 25 career four-point games; only five active players have as many: Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (38), Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (35), Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (32), Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins (29) and Leon Draisaitl of the Oilers (25). … York scored his first goal in 17 games (Dec. 16 vs. Detroit Red Wings). ... Point has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past five games. ... Atkinson has 10 points (five goals, five assist) during a six-game point streak. ... Frost has six assists in his past four games.