Nikita Kucherov's hat trick propels Lightning past Flyers

Nikita Kucherov had three goals and one assist, Brayden Point contributed a goal and an assist and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the host Philadelphia Flyers 6-3 on Tuesday.

Michael Eyssimont and Brandon Hagel each scored a goal each for the Lightning, who have won six of seven. Anthony Cirelli chipped in with two assists, and Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves.

Cam Atkinson had a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who have dropped three in a row, all at home. Jamie Drysdale and Cam York netted a goal apiece, and Morgan Frost had two assists.

Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson stopped 15 shots.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Flyers announced that goalie Carter Hart was granted an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons.

York connected just 42 seconds into the third period as the Flyers cut their deficit to 4-3.

Sean Couturier skated all the way in at 13:52 of the third, but Vasilevskiy managed to kick the puck out of the zone with his skate.

Ersson was pulled for an extra skater at 17:18, but the Lightning took a 5-3 lead with 59.3 seconds left when Hagel scored into the empty net. Kucherov completed his fifth career hat trick by adding an empty-net goal with 10.1 seconds remaining.

The Lightning went ahead 1-0 at 1:46 of the first period when Point was able to get his stick on a shot that eluded Ersson.

Travis Konecny redirected a shot in front at 15:09 of the first that was turned away by Vasilevskiy.

Just after a power play ended, Kucherov fired a slap shot into the top corner of the net for a 2-0 advantage at 18:45 of the opening period.

Tampa Bay came out aggressive in the second period and Kucherov received a fortuitous bounce with a tap-in for a 3-0 lead on a power play at 2:24.

The Flyers closed within 3-1 at 9:56 of the middle period when Atkinson set up in front and deflected Joel Farabee's pass into the net.

Drysdale soon notched his first goal as a Flyer with a wrist shot on a power play at 14:04 of the second, bringing Philadelphia within 3-2.

Eyssimont responded with a power-play goal for a 4-2 Lightning lead at 17:42 of the second.

—Field Level Media