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Spirits are high within the Tampa Bay Lightning organization as the team put a beatdown on the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, on Saturday night at AMALIE Arena.

The 7-1 victory put the Bolts at 7-1-1 this season, matching their best start in franchise history. When was the other year they got off to this hot of a start? That would be the 2003-04 season, also known as the year they won the cup.

The shellacking of the Penguins began almost immediately when Nikita Kucherov scored his ninth goal of the season 1:36 into the game. That would be the first of two goals on the night for Kucherov giving him ten on the season. He is now tied with Alex Ovechkin for the most goals in the National Hockey League and two points behind the league leader in points.

That league leader in points is none other than Kucherov's linemate Steven Stamkos, who has 18 points on the year. Stamkos scored the second goal of the night for Tampa Bay and also had three assists, giving him four points on the night. It is still early on but Stamkos and Kucherov continue to make a case as to why they are the most dominant duo in the NHL.

In their seven-goal outing, the Lighting also received tallies from Yanni Gourde, Brayden Point, Anton Stralman, and Mikhail Sergachev. It was Sergachev's third goal in two games, and he now looks completely comfortable playing with the big boys.

Andrei Vailevskiy continued his hot start to the season stopping 28 of 29 shots and securing his seventh win of the young season.

With last night's win, there is no question that the Lightning are currently the hottest team in hockey. They will get two nights off before they head to the road to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

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