Brandon Hagel and Victor Hedman scored second-period goals, and the host Tampa Bay Lightning secured their season-best sixth straight win in a 4-1 thrashing of the slumping Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
Hagel notched the go-ahead marker before Hedman hit the net on the power play as the Lightning took control in the frame against the Oilers, who lost their season-worst fourth straight match while playing for the third time in four nights.
Michael Eyssimont and Nick Paul tallied bookending goals, while Nikita Kucherov had two assists for Tampa Bay. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 23 shots in his 27th win.
In addition to its winning streak, the surging Atlantic Division club stretched its point streak to eight games (7-0-1) and is 20-7-2 on home ice.
Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl notched his NHL-best 43rd marker, extending his point streak to nine games and goal streak to six. Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard had helpers for the Oilers, while goalie Stuart Skinner made 32 saves.
After posting a 10-3-1 record in January, the Oilers have slipped to 2-5-0 this month.
Following a hooking penalty by Kucherov at 11:37 of the first period, Draisaitl completed a give-and-go with McDavid by zipping home his 13th power-play goal, tying him for the league lead just 16 seconds into the man advantage.
But less than two minutes later, Eyssimont stole the puck in the neutral zone and soon went in from the left side. He took a feed from Gage Goncalves and finished a forehand-backhand move to flip the equalizer over Skinner.
Generating few good chances throughout, Edmonton saw the home side have the better of the offensive play and outshoot the Pacific Division club 14-9 in the frame.
Just 29 seconds into the second, Hagel slammed in a wrap-around for his 28th marker, only two off his career-high mark set in the 2022-23 season.
Following a pair of high-sticking penalties on Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins that produced a five-on-three power play for 1:12, Hedman blistered a slap shot that deflected off Janmark’s stick and in for a 3-1 edge at 5:38.
Paul’s tally at 7:23 created a three-goal lead to put the game away.
–Field Level Media
