Kucherov gets hat trick, 2 assists to power Lightning past Kraken
Kucherov extended it to 2-0 at 18:49 after he stripped Ben Meyers of the puck at the top of the slot and finished a give-and-go play with Hagel by pushing it into an open net.
Kucherov scored again 57 seconds into the second period to make it 3-0, scoring into an open net off a 3-on-1 rush after a tic-tac-toe passing play with Hagel and Cirelli.
“I thought those guys created their chances,” Cooper said. “And they earned their pucks back, and then they’re good players, so they’ve got some good chemistry together, but they made some plays that are just gorgeous goals.”
McMann cut it to 3-1 10 seconds later at 1:07. Matty Beniers intercepted a clearing attempt at the blue line, then slid it to McMann in the left circle, who sent a short-side wrist shot over Vasilevskiy’s right shoulder. It was McMann’s fourth goal in three games since being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 6.
“I think it shows some resilience in this group,” McMann said. “We’re able to claw back against good teams that are pressing hard. And then I’m also proud to prove the way that we did alter our game and kind of change things up and try and generate more offense, because that’s not always easy to do.”
McCann made it 3-2 at 9:46, four seconds after a Seattle power play ended. He skated out from the right corner, delayed, and chipped a shot from the top of the crease off the right post and in.
“It started with me. Obviously, the first goal (against) there, I turned the puck over at the blue line, and they scored. So, that’s on me,” McCann said. “But I thought we had a good effort in the second period, obviously, came back and kind of made it a game.”
