In Tampa, the Lightning and visiting Colorado Avalanche skated to a 2-2 tie through the first 40 minutes of their match on Thursday night.
Tampa then scored four times in the third period en route to a 6-3 win over the Avs.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves in the win.
Tampa improved to 30-20-5 off their third straight win.
Bowen Byram, who hit for a double for the Avalanche, scored his first at 15:08 of the opening stanza for a 1-0 lead to Colorado.
“Not to make excuses for ourselves, but I think we’re tired,” Byram said. “It will be nice to sleep in our own bed and recoup a little before we play [the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday]. We’re looking forward to that.”
Tampa’s Brayden Point scored at 17:18 to tie the game, 1-1.
“It was a great effort by ‘Stammer’ and [Victor Hedman] at the line to keep it in,” Point said. “Then it’s kind of a 2-on-1 down low, so I got past the defenseman and ‘Kuch’ was there. You just count numbers and try to make a play.”
Nikita Kucherov hit for a goal at 18:25 to send the Lightning to the middle frame leading 2-1.
“We are sticking with the game plan,” Kucherov said. “[To] help the team win.”
Colorado dropped to 33-18-4, ending their six-game roadie with a 1-4-1 record.
Byram picked up his double at 15:03 of the middle frame to knot the game, 2-2 headed to the third.
In the third period, Artturi Lehkonen scored at 3:40 to give the Avs a brief 3-2 lead.
Steven Stamkos knotted the game, 3-3, with four minutes gone in the frame..
“The effort is there, these aren’t perfect games by any means,” Stamkos said. “But when you get to this stretch of the year every point is huge. I thought tonight was probably the best in terms of the defensive zone structure, especially against their top line, which is really dangerous.”
Kucherov collected his second of the night at 8:13 to put the Lightning up, 4-3.
“He’s just been committed, every single game,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said of Kucherov. “Just the way he works all over the ice. He’s just a gifted player…his intelligence when he plays. He is a hard guy to defend, and I thought he was fantastic tonight. It was a lot of fun watching those big names go at it.”
Tampa sealed the win with a pair of empty-net strikes.
“There were times where we played to our game plan and we were generating opportunities,” the Avalanche’s Cale Makar said. “Just some mishaps here and there and those are the ones that cost us whether it’s just me making really bad mistakes right now or what.”
Anthony Cirelli hit for the first at 19:28 for a 5-3 advantage.
Nick Perbix potted the second empty-netter at 19:34 for the 6-3 final count on the scoreboard. 
Justus Annunen made 33 saves in the loss..
“A pretty hard-fought game, especially early,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “It was an entertaining game. I just keep looking at the goals-against we’re giving up. … and it’s got to mean more to us. Wanting to win has to mean more to us.
“We turned the puck over on our own too much with poor decisions and execution. It’s got to mean more to us to win the hockey games. We’re giving up too many goals and too many chances throughout this road trip at times. We’ve got to break it down and start from square one.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.