Friday, 4 a.m.
His goals may not come as often as they once did. His scoreless games might happen more often. Over the years, age and injuries have had an effect on Steven Stamkos.
But yeah, Stamkos can still take over a game.
Stamkos, the aging star of the Tampa Bay Lighting, was young again Friday night. He was dazzling. For the first time in his career, he scored four goals in a game — his 12th hat trick, plus one — to lead the Lightning to a 7-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
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Stamkos tied a team record -- held by Chris Kontos and Marty St. Louis -- for most goals in a game.
The Oilers, who had won eight straight games, launched 54 shots at goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who had 50 saves. It was the fourth time in his career Vasilevskiy has had 50.
The Bolts had taken a 2-0 lead after one period, but Edmonton took over the second period The Oilers launched 25 shots and scored three goals to take the lead. For the period, they swarmed the Lightning.
It didn’t last. The Bolts scored five times in the third — including empty-netters by Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli. Nikita Kucherov had a highlight drive to the net (he now has 50 points on the season, high in the NHL).
Don’t you wonder what the Oilers’ players are thinking today? They outshot the Lightning by 30 and lost. They blew a third period lead. They got off 89 shot attempts (54 on goal).
Tyler Motte scored his first goal for the Bolts in the first period.
The Bolts play at Calgary at 10 p.m. on Saturday. They are 2-2 going into the final game of their five-game road trip.