PHILADELPHIA — The Tampa Bay Lightning won their seventh straight game, 5-2 against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.
J.T. Miller and Ryan McDonagh each had a goal and an assist, and Mikhail Sergachev, Alex Killorn and Yanni Gourde scored for the Lightning, who are 9-0-2 in their past 11 games, including a 5-1 win at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. Louis Domingue made 28 saves.
Tampa Bay (46-11-4) leads the Boston Bruins by 18 points for first in the Eastern Conference.
Miller took the puck from Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov in the Lightning end, started a 2-on-1 rush, kept the puck, and scored to make it 3-0 at 10:23 of the first period.
[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Flyers highlights]
“Lot of our games revolve around setting the tone for the game,” Miller said. “Come out like that, especially to score early, sets the tempo for the rest of the game.”
Oskar Lindblom and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers (28-25-7), who lost for the first time in four games and trail the Blue Jackets by six points for the second Eastern wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Video: TBL@PHI: Gourde sneaks power-play goal by Elliott
“We can’t start like that if we want to win games,” Lindblom said. “They’re the best team in the League right now. We can’t get out there in the first period and don’t want to play. We can’t do that.”
Brian Elliott made 22 saves in his first game since Nov. 15 because of a lower-body injury. He was activated from injured reserve earlier Tuesday and replaced Carter Hart after Miller’s goal. Hart made six saves on nine shots.
“You get thrown in there sometimes, that’s the best,” Elliott said. “You’re not thinking about things too much, just going out there and playing, so I felt good. … We mounted that comeback but just couldn’t get it all the way through.”
Sergachev gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead 2:22 into the game.
Video: TBL@PHI: Konecny beats Domingue to trim deficit
Killorn made it 2-0 at 5:13 with his 100th NHL goal. Anthony Cirelli tipped Adam Erne‘s shot off the post to Hart’s left, and Killorn tapped in the rebound.
Miller was moved up in the lineup because Brayden Point, who leads the Lightning with 35 goals, was scratched for missing a team meeting. Tampa Bay also was without defenseman Victor Hedman, who sustained a lower-body injury against Columbus.
“We talk about it all the time, our depth is one of our biggest assets,” Miller said. “Every season, you need guys to step up. You’re not going to get it from the same guys every night. That’s a good quality of our team.”
Lindblom scored to make it 3-1 when he tipped a Sean Couturier pass 1:03 into the third period. It was his third goal in two games.
Gourde scored a power-play goal at 7:42 to make it 4-1.
Video: TBL@PHI: Killorn cleans up in front for 100th goal
“Yanni’s power-play goal was huge,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “That kind of burst the bubble a little bit.”
Konecny scored from a sharp angle at 10:51 to make it 4-2.
McDonagh scored an empty-net goal with 37 seconds remaining for the 5-2 final.
They said it
“We got a couple team rules, and he missed a meeting. It happened. Not the first and he certainly won’t be the last to do it. We have a standard, and no one’s above it. Pretty sure he won’t be missing anymore.” — Lightning coach Jon Cooper on forward Brayden Point being a healthy scratch
“Three goals on nine shots, that’s on me. I’ve got to be better, and it [stinks], but you put it behind you. Games like these happen, and it’s going to happen every once in a while, and that’s the game of hockey. Just put it behind you and get ready to work tomorrow at practice and prepare for Thursday (against the Montreal Canadiens).” — Flyers goalie Carter Hart
Need to know
Domingue has won 11 straight games since a 3-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 27. … Kucherov was held without a point for the first time in six games. He had 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in a five-game multipoint streak and leads the NHL with 99 points (29 goals, 70 assists). He could have been the first player to reach 100 points in 61 games or fewer since Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1996-97. … Couturier, who had two assists, has eight points (one goal, seven assists) during a four-game point streak and 28 points (nine goals, 18 assists) in the past 18 games. … Referees waved off an apparent Flyers goal with 47 seconds remaining in the third period for goaltender interference, and the call was upheld after the Situation Room confirmed Couturier pushed Domingue into the net with the puck.
What’s next
Lightning: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, MSG-B, NHL.TV)
Flyers: At the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
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