The Tampa Bay Lightning (25-18-5) defeated the Philadelphia Flyers (35-17-6) 6-3 on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
Nikita Kucherov led the way in this game with his fifth career regular-season hat trick. In addition to the three goals, he logged an assist in the dominant night.
After Tampa Bay took a 3-0 lead early in the second period, Philadelphia pulled within 3-2 midway through the second. After trading goals to make it 4-3 early in the third period, the Lightning pulled away with two empty net goals late in the third - first from Brandon Hagel, then Nikita Kucherov's hat trick goal with 11 seconds to go in the third.
Andrei Vasilevskiy went 29-for-32 in net to get the win for Tampa Bay.
The Lightning now return home for the final two games before the NHL All-Star Break. That short homestand begins when they play host to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night - puck drop from Amalie Arena is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES