The Colorado Avalanche (7-0-1) extended their season-opening point streak to eight games and came out of Amalie Arena with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3-1) 6-2 on Saturday night at Amalie Arena.
Tyson Jost set the pace early, scoring first in the game at the 3:09 mark of the first period. Though Yanni Gourde answered to tie the game 1-1 in the first, the Avs really began to take control in the second period with a three goal outburst. Jost scored at both the 3:17 and 6:06 mark in the second period for his first NHL hat trick, and from there the Avalanche had little trouble coming away with a 6-2 win.
Pavel Francouz was tremendous in net for the Avs, converting 44 saves on 46 shots from the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy went 18-for-24 in net for the losing effort for Tampa Bay.
The Lightning now turn their attention to a key early season matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday nigh at Amalie Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 PM and pregame coverage begins at 7 PM on News Radio WFLA