TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos reached the 30-goal mark for the ninth time in his career and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Islanders 4-1 on Saturday night to extend their point streak to nine games.
Anthony Cirelli had two goals and an assist, and Darren Raddysh also scored as the Lightning improved to 8-0-1 since March 7 and beat the Islanders for the fifth straight time at Amalie Arena. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves to win his seventh straight start against the Islanders and improve to 13-4-0 against them in his career.
Kyle Palmieri scored and Semyon Varlamov had 38 saves for the Islanders, who are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games. They trail Washington by five points for third place in the Metropolitan Division and are also five behind Philadelphia for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Stamkos deflected Emil Lilleberg’s shot past Varlamov 21 seconds into the third period, putting Tampa Bay ahead 3-1. The goal, which survived a video review for a possible high stick, was the 545th of his career, moving him past Hall of Famer Maurice Richard into sole possession of 32nd place on the NHL’s all-time list. Tampa Bay’s captain has scored at least 30 goals in each of the past three seasons.
The Islanders took a 1-0 lead 2:25 into the game, scoring on their first shot when Palmieri’s wrister from the right boards hit Lightning defenseman Matt Dumba in front and went past Vasilevskiy. However, the Lightning scored twice in 35 seconds to take the lead. Raddysh’s power-play goal with 5:35 remaining in the period evened the score, and Cirelli was alone in the slot when he beat Varlamov to put the Lightning ahead for good.
Cirelli capped the scoring by hitting the empty net with 2:46 remaining.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Complete a three-game road trip at Philadelphia on Monday night.
Lightning: Finish a three-game homestand against Detroit on Monday night.
