No NHL defenseman had recorded a point streak of at least eight postseason games in more than two decades before Tuesday night, when Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman crossed that threshold with two deft passes on power plays. Both assists were one-timed into the net to set the tone in the Lightning’s 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but it wasn’t until Hedman scored a third unanswered goal that Tampa Bay had slammed the door on the possibility of falling into a 3-0 series deficit.
Scoring a point in eight straight games, which hadn’t been done since Pittsburgh’s Larry Murphy did it all the way back in 1995, appeared to carry little significance for Hedman on Tuesday night.