SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos each had two goals and two assists, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 37 shots and the Tampa Bay Lightning snapped Florida’s franchise-record 13-game winning streak with a 8-4 win over the Panthers on Sunday night.
Victor Hedman had four assists for Tampa Bay. Nicholas Paul scored twice and Brayden Point and Cal Foote also scored for the Lightning, who remained alive in the race with Toronto for the No. 2 spot behind Florida in the Atlantic Division.
And even though Tampa Bay’s next game is home on Tuesday, the Lightning weren’t heading home after the game. They’re off to Washington, invited by President Joe Biden to visit the White House on Monday in celebration of their 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup victories.
“It’s probably the most popular house in the country,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “To understand the history and the great people that have occupied that house over the last couple hundred years, it’s history. And for us to have an opportunity to get inside and be a part of that, it’s pretty cool. Took us a couple championships to finally get in there.”
Sam Reinhart scored his 30th and 31st goals for Florida, which also got goals from Brandon Montour and Mason Marchment. Spencer Knight left in the second period after allowing five goals on 17 shots, and Sergei Bobrovsky played the final 27 minutes in net for the Panthers.
Florida was hit with 58 penalty minutes, and even interim coach Andrew Brunette got a game misconduct in the final moments. The Lightning improved to 19-0-1 when Kucherov has at least two points in a game this season.
Florida lost on home ice for the first time since Feb. 26, but remained four points ahead of Colorado in the race for the President’s Trophy — awarded for the best NHL regular-season record. The Panthers have 120 points; Colorado remained on 116 after losing Sunday to Winnipeg. Both the Panthers and Avalanche, who had general manager Joe Sakic watching in Florida on Sunday night, have three games left.
Jonathan Huberdeau had an assist for Florida, his 115th point of the season. He's now three points behind Edmonton's Connor McDavid for the league lead; McDavid had two assists earlier Sunday in the Oilers' loss to Columbus.
The Panthers finished 34-7-0 at home, by far the best record in franchise history and an excellent sign for a team that has clinched the right to play Game 1’s — and, if necessary, Game 7’s — throughout at least the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
And the Panthers ended up as just the second team in NHL history to record two different home winning streaks of at least 11 games in the same season. The Detroit Red Wings did it in 1995-96, both of those being 12-game streaks.
But the Lightning are still the champions, looked the part on Sunday and get to celebrate in Washington on Monday.
“That’s something everyone dreams of as a kid,” Lightning forward Brandon Hagel said. “As you get older, you understand a little bit of the privilege winning teams and players get.”
4 WITH 30
Reinhart became the fourth Florida player with 30 goals, and that meant the Panthers joined Calgary as the only team with four such players so far this season. He also became the 46th player in the NHL with at least 30 goals this season, the most since 47 players got to that milestone in 2005-06.
STREAK NOTES
Only five franchises — Pittsburgh, Columbus, the New York Islanders, Boston and Washington — have winning streaks of 14 or more games. The Penguins’ 17-game run is the record, done in the 1992-93 season. Columbus had a 16-game streak in 2016-17. The Islanders (1981-82) and the Penguins (2012-13) had 15-game streaks, while the Bruins (1929-30) and Capitals (2009-10) had the 14-game runs.
NOTES: Florida’s finished with 34 home wins this season, the third-most in NHL history. Detroit (1995-96) and Philadelphia (1975-76) both won 36 home games in those seasons. ... The 68 points on home ice this season for Florida smashed the previous team mark of 58, set in 1999-2000. ... Tampa Bay and Florida split four games this season, one of the Lightning wins coming in overtime.
UP NEXT
Lightning: Host Columbus on Tuesday.
Panthers: Visit Boston on Tuesday.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
