NEW YORK (AP) — Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Islanders 4-1 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight win to inch closer to clinching a playoff spot.

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his 20th of the season, Victor Hedman also scored and Nick Paul added an empty-netter for the Lightning. Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point each added two assists.

Bo Horvat scored a short-handed goal for New York and Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves as the Islanders lost their sixth straight (0-4-2), further diminishing their slim playoff hopes.

Guentzel scored the tiebreaking goal at 8:09 of the second period. Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech inexplicably left Guentzel alone and Kucherov delivered a beautiful pass to set up the go-ahead goal.

Hedman made it 3-1 about 2 1/2 minutes later, and Paul capped the scoring into an empty net with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third.

Takeaways

Lightning: Vasilevskiy recorded his 36th win of the regular season, trailing only Connor Hellebuyck of NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets.

Islanders: Sorokin started four of the Islanders previous six losses, allowing 14 goals during that stretch.

Key Moment

Horvat missed a one-timer during an Islanders two-man advantage roughly five minutes into the second period while the game was even at 1-1. Tampa Bay then scored twice in the period to take a 3-1 lead.

Key stat

Kucherov’s two assists raised his season total to 111 points and reclaimed the NHL scoring lead. Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon is in second place with 110.

Up next

Lightning visit Ottawa on Thursday, and Islanders host Minnesota on Friday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jake Mangum collected three more hits and Shane Baz struck out a career-high 10 in six innings, helping the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-0 on Tuesday night.

Mangum drove in two runs and scored twice, one day after he went 4 for 4 with two steals in his second major league game.

Brandon Lowe homered as Tampa Bay earned its third consecutive win. Lowe finished with three hits and three RBIs.

Baz (1-0) allowed seven hits and walked none in his first start of the season. Mason Englert pitched two innings before Mason Montgomery finished the nine-hitter for the Rays.

Pittsburgh right-hander Thomas Harrington (0-1) permitted six runs and seven hits in four innings in his major league debut. He struck out two and walked four.

Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes each had two hits for the Pirates, who left seven runners on base.

Mangum hit a two-run double in Tampa Bay’s three-run first. Lowe’s two-run shot in the fourth lifted the Rays to a 6-0 lead.

Baz struck out four of his final five batters.

Key moment

Kameron Misner singled home Mangum during Tampa Bay’s big first inning against Harrington.

Key stat

Baz, Englert and Montgomery combined for 15 strikeouts and no walks.

Up next

In a duel of opening-day starters, Pirates star Paul Skenes (0-0, 3.38 ERA) faces Ryan Pepiot (0-0, 1.50 ERA) on Wednesday afternoon. The forecast for the gametime temperature is 91 degrees.

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 The No. 24 University of South Florida Men’s tennis team (18-3) are now on a nine-game win streak after facing Charlotte on Friday and Liberty on Sunday and walking away victorious. The Bulls lead the conference and are undefeated with a 5-0 record.

The Bulls defeated Charlotte on Friday with a score of 6-1. South Florida took two of the three doubles courts, starting with a 6-3 win on Court 1 by Hugo Car and Ettore Danesi. Elijah Cham and Agustin Cuellar sealed the deal with a 7-6 (8-6) triumph on Court 3.

The Bulls dominated on the singles courts, taking all but one. Toto Llanes started off strong with a swift 6-1, 6-3 win on Court 6. Cham followed with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) victory on Court 3. Danesi clinched the match with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) triumph on Court 5. Car added some cushion with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win on Court 1. Gughi Verdese wrapped it up with a battle on Court 4, scoring 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 and walking away victorious.

The Bulls continued their hot streak on Sunday when they faced Liberty University and walked away with a 5-2 win. The Bulls started the match by clinching the doubles point. Llanes and Ben Hudson finished first with a 6-1 win on Court 2. Car and Danesi clinched it with a 6-2 triumph on Court 1.

Verdese quickly took Court 3 with a 6-3, 6-3 win. Cham followed with another swift 6-3, 6-4 victory on Court 2. Cuellar clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph on Court 1. Llanes wrapped up the match with a 6-4, 6-7, 1-0 (10-6) win on Court 6.

The Bulls have been ranked top-25 for three consecutive weeks, for the first time in over a decade. The Bulls lead the conference with a 18-3 record, 5-0 AAC.

UP NEXT
The Bulls will wrap up regular season play with two road matches next weekend. First, they will face Middle Tennessee (11-9) on Friday. The Bulls are 5-6 against Middle Tennessee in match-up history, losing to them 3-4 just last year. They will continue to play UAB (8-11) on Sunday. The Bulls are undefeated against UAB with a program record of 3-0. Their last match-up resulted in a 4-2 win at home.

About USF Men’s Tennis
Be sure to follow USF men’s tennis on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.
Head coach Ashley Fisher is in his ninth year at the helm of the program for the 2024-25 season. Fischer has guided the Bulls to four NCAA Tournaments, including three trips to the second round. He was named the American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2017 & 2019 after leading USF to the conference title in each of those seasons.