TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Brandon Hagel scored two goals to reach 25 for the season and surpass Nikita Kucherov for the team lead as the Tampa Bay Lightning continued their surge with a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.
Anthony Cirelli and Jake Guentzel each had a goal and an assist, and Kucherov had two assists to reach 48. Kucherov has 72 points, tied for third in the league with San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini, who was held scoreless.
Tampa Bay has a 14-game point streak and has won two straight since its one loss in that span, a 3-2 shootout defeat at St. Louis last Friday. The Lightning (31-13-4), who haven’t lost in regulation since Dec. 18, matched Carolina atop the Eastern Conference with 66 points.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves for Tampa Bay.
Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks, who concluded their East Coast trip at 2-2. San Jose returns home for one game on Friday before a five-game trip with the first three in Western Canada.
Toffoli scored with 5:23 left in the first period, but Hagel tied it 37 seconds later with his 24th goal. He converted a precise feed from Cirelli to beat Yaroslav Askarov.
Cirelli scored early in the second period and Guentzel’s goal 1:28 later made it 3-1. After a long scoreless stretch, Hagel converted an empty-netter.
Askarov stopped 16 shots.
Up next
Sharks: Host the New York Rangers on Friday night.
Lightning: At Chicago on Friday night.
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