Tampa Bay Lightning win franchise record 11th straight game

NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins at Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning won a franchise record 11th straight game on Monday. The Lightning beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 with an overtime winner by Nikita Kucherov of Maykop, Russia.

The Lightning beat the Avalanche in a complete team performance. Eight Lightning players notched a single point. The other Tampa Bay goal scorers were Cameron Gaunce of Sudbury, Ontario, Alex Killorn of Halifax, Nova Scotia and Steven Stamkos of Markham, Ontario.

For Gaunce, it was his first goal of the season, first with the Lightning, and third of his career. He previously scored for the Colorado Avalanche in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 16, 2011 and for the Penguins in a 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Islanders on March 24, 2017. In an ironic statistic, in all three games Gaunce has scored, the game has gone into extra time. However on Monday, this was the first of Gaunce’s three games where he did score, that his team won the game.

In the record breaking Lightning win, Tampa Bay trailed 1-0 to Colorado after the first period. The Lightning then scored three consecutive goals in the second period, before Colorado scored once in the second period and once in the third period to force overtime.

The Lightning franchise record for wins began on January 29 with a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. That was followed by a 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks on January 31, in a 3-0 win over the San Jose Sharks on February 1, in a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on February 4, in a 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 6, in a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders on February 8, in a 2-1 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on February 10, in a 2-1 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 11, in a 3-1 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers on February 13 and in a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on February 15.

In the Lightning streak, they have outscored their opponents 38-19. Their last loss came on January 27 when they lost 3-2 to the Dallas Stars in overtime.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have the longest winning streak in NHL regular season history. They had 17 straight wins from March 9, 1993 to April 10, 1993.

The Lightning have the second best record in the NHL at 85 points. They have one less point than the Boston Bruins at 86 points. Tampa Bay can extend the streak to 12 when they visit the Golden Knights on Thursday.

 

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