Tuesday, January 7, 2020 07:00 PM (ET)

Verhaeghe hat trick highlights Lightning rout of Canucks

Field Level Media
Jan 7, 2020

Six different players scored in Tampa Bay's six-goal second period, Carter Verhaeghe tallied his first career hat trick and the Lightning routed the visiting Vancouver Canucks 9-2 on Tuesday night.

Tampa Bay tied its franchise record for goals and extended its winning streak to a season-high eight games, the club's longest since a 10-game stretch last February.

The Lightning's six-goal period matched the franchise record set in 1995 against Winnipeg. They are the third team to turn the feat this season, joining Colorado and Pittsburgh.

Brayden Point scored and assisted on three goals, and Steven Stamkos posted his 17th tally and had two helpers. Alex Killorn also produced his 17th.

Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Erik Cernak netted for the Lightning, who had 13 players on the scoresheet.

Mikhail Sergachev played in his 200th game, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 21 shots to win his 20th.

Elias Pettersson and Loui Eriksson scored for Vancouver. Jacob Markstrom allowed six goals on 21 shots before being relieved by Thatcher Demko, who made 13 saves.

Their first meeting this season was just the second instance in NHL history featuring two teams carrying an active winning streak of at least seven consecutive games.

Pettersson, who will play in his second All-Star Game later this month, skated in and slipped in his 20th marker through Vasilevskiy's pads with just 62 seconds left in the first period.

Johnson zipped a shot on Markstrom early in the second period, and the puck deflected up and went over the goal line for Johnson's 10th at 4:21 to tie it at 1.

Stamkos gave the Lightning their first lead on the power play when Point won a faceoff, and the captain wired a shot from just inside the edge of the right circle at 10:10.

Eriksson's chip of a centering pass hit Hedman and bounced in at 14:05 to even it at 2, but Tampa Bay regained the lead when Killorn raced in and beat Markstrom on a breakaway just over a minute later.

The Lightning took complete control at 6-2 when Verhaeghe, Kucherov and Cernak all potted goals in a 56-second span to chase Markstrom from the game, and Point and Verhaeghe, who scored twice in the third, provided the final margin.

--Field Level Media

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