Cirelli, Goncalves key Lightning's 3rd-period comeback for their 6th straight win, 5-3 over LA Kings
Gage Goncalves scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:41 to play, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from a late deficit to beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-3 for their sixth consecutive victory
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gage Goncalves scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:41 to play, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from a late deficit to beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-3 on Thursday night for their sixth consecutive victory.
Anthony Cirelli scored the tying goal with 3:19 left in regulation for the Lightning, who fell behind early in the third period on Kevin Fiala's power-play goal.
Cirelli crashed the net and pushed home his 11th goal on a play set up by Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov. Moments later, Cirelli and Goncalves drove the net again, and Goncalves eventually converted a behind-the-net pass from Jake Guentzel for his fourth goal.
Brayden Point had his first two-goal game of the season and Kucherov capped a three-point night by putting his 19th goal into an empty net for the Lightning, who have won back-to-back games to begin their three-game California road trip. Point also scored in Tampa Bay's 4-3 overtime victory at Anaheim on Wednesday.
Jonas Johansson stopped 17 shots for Tampa Bay, which hasn't lost since Dec. 18.
Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist apiece on the power play for the Kings, who collapsed late in their eighth loss in 10 games despite scoring multiple man-advantage goals for the first time all season. Los Angeles entered the night with the NHL's worst power play, scoring on just 14.4% of its chances.
Corey Perry had his first three-assist game since November 2019, setting up both power-play goals and giving him 499 career assists.
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Jeff Malott also scored, and Darcy Kuemper returned from injury to make 18 saves in the Canadian Olympic team selection's first appearance since Dec. 15.
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