Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist in Tampa Bay’s three-goal, second-period outburst over a 3:42 span as the host Lightning cooled off the torrid Detroit Red Wings, 5-1, on Saturday night.

The right wing added a second assist, the 600th of his career, on a power-play marker by Darren Raddysh, who also had a helper as Tampa Bay scored four times in the frame.

Jake Guentzel tallied on the power play and added two assists, while Brayden Point recorded his team-high 27th goal. Mitchell Chaffee also scored as the Lightning moved to 5-1-1 in their past seven matches.

Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy notched his 20th victory by denying 39 shots. It marked the ninth straight season the 2019 Vezina Trophy winner reached the 20-win plateau.

Detroit’s Lucas Raymond hit the net as its power play scored for the 10th time in 11 games under new coach Todd McLellan.

Goalie Cam Talbot surrendered five goals on 16 shots over two periods. Alex Lyon relieved to start the third period and stopped six shots.

In a battle of two of the NHL’s top power-play units, the Lightning were 2 of 3 and Detroit finished 1 of 6.

Detroit logged a season-high 40 shots but slipped to 8-3-0 in the past 11 games.

Just 2:02 into the first of four matchups between the Atlantic Division rivals, Point corralled a blast by Emil Lilleberg that banked straight back off the end boards and potted a goal for the second straight match.

On an early power play in the second, Guentzel waited just 16 seconds in beating Detroit’s 31st-ranked penalty kill. Kucherov soon sliced his way through the circle for a tally at 1:50 for a commanding 3-0 edge.

The onslaught continued when the home side’s fourth line got in on the action at 3:58 as Chaffee found himself out front.

Raymond tied Alex DeBrincat for second place in team goals with his 19th on the power play at 14:12, while Raddysh added one at 15:06 as the second period ended 5-1 with the Lightning well in control.

–Field Level Media