Lightning thump Jets 5-2

Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist, Nikita Kucherov tied the team record for points in a season, and the Lightning beat the visiting Winnipeg Jets 5-2 to boost their home winning streak to eight games on Tuesday. Adam Erne had a goal and an assist, Mathieu Joseph posted two assists, and Yanni Gourde, Cedric Paquette and Brayden Point found the net for the Lightning, who have an 11-game point streak (9-0-2) and won for the 12th time in their last 13 games.

Kucherov's two assists pushed him to 108, tying the franchise mark for a season with Vincent Lecavalier (2006-07). Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves to win his 10th straight start. Jacob Trouba recorded a goal and an assist, and Blake Wheeler also scored for Winnipeg, which has lost six of its last nine (3-5-1). Connor Hellebuyck allowed four goals on 36 shots but missed 3:16 of ice time after an injury in the second period. Laurent Brossoit stopped one of two shots in brief relief.

Ondrej Palat zipped a pass through the neutral zone early on, and Gourde skated in on a breakaway and snapped his 18th goal by Hellebuyck at 1:34 on the Lightning's first shot on goal. After a failed two-on-one short-handed break by Tampa Bay, Patrik Laine led a rush and backhanded a pass to Wheeler, who scored at 6:31 for a power-play goal to tie it 1-1.

Wheeler's marker was his fifth straight for the club. The Minnesota native scored the final four goals in Sunday's 5-2 win in Columbus, and has 18 this season. Vasilevskiy and Hellebuyck, who entered the game with 58 combined wins, were strong early in the second period, but Tampa Bay grabbed a 2-1 edge when Joseph led a speedy two-on-one rush that Erne finished with his seventh goal at 8:58.

Kucherov rifled a shot at 14:11 that struck Hellebuyck in the mask, cutting the goalie over the left eye. He left the ice and was replaced by Brossoit, and Stamkos' one-timer on the power play from the left circle on the first shot on the backup made it 3-1. Paquette scored his 10th goal, Point added his NHL-best 19th power-play tally and Trouba netted a fluke power-play goal off a quirky bounce off the stanchion in the third period.

(With inputs from agencies.)