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Down 2-0 in the third period, Chicago grabbed
its first lead when defenseman Slater Koekkoek -- a 2012
first-round draft pick by Tampa Bay -- scored midway through the
frame.
Brandon Saad notched a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks,
who won for the first time in three games. Corey Crawford
registered 36 saves.
Chicago improved to 8-2-1 against the Atlantic Division this
season, splitting the two-game season series against Tampa Bay.
Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov each recorded a goal and an
assist for the Lightning, who lost a season-long fourth
consecutive game for the first time since January of 2017.
Curtis McElhinney stopped 22 of 26 shots.
Playing without captain Steven Stamkos, Pat Maroon and newly
acquired Blake Coleman, the Lightning dressed 11 forwards and
seven defensemen.
Scoreless after one period, Crawford kept the match scoreless
with a denial of Alex Killorn's breakaway attempt 1:32 into the
second, and the two-time Stanley Cup winner made another
point-blank save as Carter Verhaeghe tried to score from the
slot to finish a two-on-one rush with under seven minutes
remaining.
Point finally broke the scoring drought when he circled through
the offensive zone and zipped in his 23rd tally from the high
slot that beat Crawford on the glove side at 15:31 to give the
home side a 1-0 lead.
Kucherov took a diagonal pass through the slot from Point and
rifled home his team-leading 31st marker just 17 seconds into
the third period for a 2-0 edge.
With the tally, Point has recorded points in 13 of the last 14
games he skated in. He did not play in the team's 5-3 loss
against the Golden Knights in Vegas last Thursday. Kucherov has
29 points in his last 18 games, scoring in 12 straight and six
straight with one game missed in between.
Saad shoved in his 20th goal on a rebound at 4:36, and Kubalik
tied it 2-2 by putting in his own putback just 26 seconds later
to tie it at 2. Koekkoek's long shot slipped through
McElhinney's pads for Chicago's first lead at 9:56.
Kubalik scored two more times, once into an empty net, as
Chicago potted five goals in a span of 12:53. Kubalik leads all
rookies with 29 goals.
--Field Level Media
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