Lightning top Avs in OT for franchise-best 11th straight win

Goaltender Pavel Francouz, #39 of the Colorado Avalanche, makes a skate save against Carter Verhaeghe, #23 of the Tampa Bay Lightning, in an NHL game at Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado, U.S., February 17, 2020. /Getty Images

Nikita Kucherov stole the puck from Nathan MacKinnon and scored 3:03 into overtime, sending the Tampa Bay Lightning to a franchise-record 11th straight win, 4-3 over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.

"Their best player gets a breakaway and I wasn't able to stop it," Colorado goaltender Pavel Francouz said. "Their best player gets the puck on the blue line, he was racing with Nathan. He kind of opened me up a little bit and he shot it 5-hole."

Cameron Gaunce and Alex Killorn scored 16 seconds apart during the Bolts' three-goal second period before Colorado came back to force overtime.

Steven Stamkos also had a goal for Tampa Bay in the second period that erased a 1-0 deficit, and Bolts goaltender Curtis McElhinney stopped 24 shots despite getting bowled over by Colorado's J.T. Compher midway through the third period, sparking the first of two brawls in a tense ending.

McElhinney crumpled awkwardly and lay motionless for a moment before rising slowly. He was visited by a trainer but stayed in the game. Compher was called for interference.

Another scuffle broke out after Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon leveled Ondrej Palat cleanly in front of Tampa Bay's bench.

The Avalanche dropped their third straight and lost forward Mikko Rantanen to a left shoulder injury when he was tripped into the boards at full-speed by Erik Cernak in the second period. Rantanen immediately left the ice and headed inside before the Bolts killed the power play.

The Avs are now without Grubauer and three key forwards — Rantanen, Matt Calvert and Nazem Kadri — for several weeks.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, #41 of the Colorado Avalanche, (R) controls the puck away from Cameron Gaunce, #33 of the Tampa Bay Lightning, in an NHL game at Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado, U.S., February 17, 2020. /Getty Images

Tampa Bay's 11th straight victory — the longest winning streak in the NHL this season — broke the franchise mark of 10 set last season and tied earlier this season. Tampa Bay is just the second NHL franchise to record a pair of double-digit winning streaks a single season, joining the Boston Bruins, who did it in 1929-30 and 1970-71.

Other results on Monday include (home teams in bold):

San Jose Sharks 3-5 Florida Panthers

Calgary Flames 6-4 Anaheim Ducks

Arizona Coyotes 2-1 New York Islanders

Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 Washington Capitals

(With input from AP)