Colorado Avalanche vs Tampa Bay Lightning Match Player Stats On Dec 08, 2018

Steven Stamkos scored twice in a span of a little more than 10 minutes in the first period Saturday night to initiate an outburst by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who rolled to a 7-1 win over the visiting Colorado Avalanche.

The win was the sixth straight and the ninth in the last 10 games (9-1-0) for the Lightning, who have the most points in the NHL with 47. It was the fourth time this season Tampa Bay has scored at least seven goals and the second time it won a game by six goals (8-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 13).

The winning streak is the longest for the Lightning since they won seven in a row from Dec. 2-16, 2017.

The two-goal game was the second of the season for Stamkos. Ondrej Palat also scored twice -- once apiece in the second and third -- for the Lightning, his first two-goal game since Oct. 6, 2017. Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli each had a goal apiece for Tampa Bay.

Goalie Louis Domingue made 29 saves.

Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche, who have alternated losses with wins in the last five games. The seven goals allowed tied a season-high for Colorado, which suffered its most lopsided defeat since a 7-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on March 22.

Goalie Semyon Varlamov started and took the loss after allowing five goals on 23 shots. Philipp Grubauer stopped 13 of 15 shots in relief.

Stamkos scored a power-play goal at the 3:05 mark of the first for the Lightning and doubled the lead by scoring with 6:45 remaining. MacKinnon scored 59 seconds later for the Avalanche, but Johnson extended the lead back to two goals by scoring with 3:34 left in the period.

Killorn scored exactly two minutes into the second, and Palat chased Varlamov at the 7:59 mark. Cirelli greeted Grubauer by scoring on the Lightning's next shot a second beyond the midway point of the period.

Palat capped the scoring with a power-play goal 3:29 into the third.

--Field Level Media