Hedman scores twice for Lightning in win against Kraken

SEATTLE --Victor Hedman scored two goals for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 4-1 win against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday.

Steven Stamkos had three assists in his 900th NHL game, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves for his NHL-leading 32nd win of the season for the Lightning (39-15-6), who finished 3-3-0 on a season-high six-game road trip.
"I'm just proud of being part of this organization for all 900 of those and hopefully many more to come," Stamkos said. "Some of the adverse times that I've gone through with all the support that I've had, and just trying to get back to the player I know I can be and have the impact on the ice that I know I can bring every night. It's been a lot of hard work behind the scenes just to get to this point. I look forward to the challenge ahead."

Yanni Gourde scored his first goal against his former team, and Philipp Grubauer made 35 saves for the Kraken (18-38-6), who have lost five of six (1-4-1).
"We were right there, and a bouncing puck gives us a tie game after two," Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. "The critical goal is that third goal. We got skated by from 200 feet and kind of mass chaos in our crease, and that's the one that put some separation there for them."
Gourde gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 2:38 of the first period on a power-play one-timer from the right face-off circle off a pass from Jordan Eberle.
Nikita Kucherov tied the game 1-1 at 6:26 on a 2-on-1 rush with Stamkos. It was Kucherov's first goal in eight games.
"Tonight, after the first period, getting out of the penalty trouble there [tied 1-1]," Stamkos said of the four Lightning minors. "I thought we, for the most part, had good possession of the game. In that third period, going up a goal first shift, [Brayden Point's] line goes out there and gets us insurance, and we don't give up much after."
Hedman gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead at 8:48 of the second period on a power play with a slap shot from the blue line.

Anthony Cirelli scored 23 seconds into the third period to make it 3-1 when he knocked in a loose puck in the crease. Point set the play up with a rush that pulled Grubauer out of his net.
"Sheer determination, but of all the shots, that was the one that went in," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "Guys were on the bench joking about that, but Point had his legs under him tonight. He was buzzing tonight."
Hedman made it 4-1 at 14:26 with a slap shot on a power play. It was his sixth goal in the past six games and 60th point of the season.
Prior to the game, the Kraken traded forward Calle Jarnkrok to the Calgary Flames in return for a second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, and a seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. The 2022 pick originally belonged to the Florida Panthers.
"It's part of the business, we understand the situation we're in," Eberle said. "Guys are going to get traded. … It should really be no surprise because you've been on losing teams. This is what happened, so that's definitely no excuse. … It's frustrating. Obviously you can try and find as many excuses as you want, but at the end of the day we're still trying to build here and we got 20 games to see who wants to be here."
NOTES:Seattle defenseman Mark Giordano was honored before the game for playing in his 1,000th NHL game March 5, but he did not play. … Hedman's 17 goals ties his NHL high set in 2017-18. He has scored at least 60 points three times in the NHL. Only two defensemen have had more since his debut in 2009-10, Erik Karlsson (six) and Brent Burns (five). … Stamkos is third in games in Lightning history behind Vincent Lecavalier (1,037) and Martin St. Louis (972). … Tampa Bay forward Boris Katchouk had one hit in 10:28 in his first game since March 4. He was recalled from Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Tampa Bay leads the NHL with 20 road wins (20-10-2). … Gourde has scored five points (two goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak. … Seattle was 1-for-5 on the power play and is 3-for-28 (10.7 percent) in the past 12 games. … Tampa Bay went 2-for-6 on the power play after going 0-for-14 in the previous five games.