PHILADELPHIA _ Tampa Bay was without its leading goal scorer, Brayden Point, who was benched Tuesday for missing a practice. Point's teammate, Victor Hedman, arguably the league's best defenseman, was sidelined by an injury. In addition, standout goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy did not play because he was in the nets the previous night.
The Lightning didn't miss any of them.
You can take high-quality players out of their lineup, but no one can slow down the Lightning these days.
Tampa, which has the most points in the NHL and is the overwhelming Stanley Cup favorite, won its seventh straight as it whipped the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center, 5-2, and raised its record to 9-0-2 in the last 11 games.
The Flyers were handed just their second regulation loss in their last 15 games (12-2-1). They began the night six points out of a playoff spot and they now have 22 games left.
There was some controversy. With 47.5 seconds left, Sean Couturier appeared to make it 4-3 after a wild scramble in front. The goal was negated for goalie interference. The Flyers challenged the call, but it stood _ though goalie Louis Domingue appeared to push the puck into the net himself.
Ryan McDonagh then iced the win with an empty-net tally.
J.T. Miller had a goal and an assist and backup goalie Domingue recorded his 11th straight win for the Bolts, who showed no ill effects from playing the previous night in Columbus.
For the Flyers, it was a first period to forget, a stanza in which their defense made a slew of mistakes, rookie Carter Hart allowed three goals on nine shots and was removed, and Brian Elliott collided with Ivan Provorov and fell to the ice behind his net.
It all was part of an early 3-0 lead for Tampa Bay, the NHL's best team.
The Bolts took a 1-0 lead when Mikhail Sergachev's point drive deflected off Shayne Gostisbehere's left skate and past Hart with 17:38 left in the first.
About three minutes later, defenseman Andrew MacDonald lost a battle out front with Alex Killorn, who knocked in a rebound to make it 2-0.
Provorov lost the puck in the Flyers' offensive end, enabling Tampa to go on a two on one, which J.T. Miller finished with a drive that went over Hart's glove. That gave the Lightning a 3-0 lead with 9:37 remaining in the first.
Exit Hart, who was coming off a brilliant 37-save performance Sunday in a 3-1 win in Detroit. Enter Elliott who came off the injured list Tuesday and played his first NHL game since Nov. 15.
Late in the second period, Domingue was sprawled on the ice when he lifted his right pad and somehow stopped Jake Voracek's bad-angle shot that deflected off defenseman Braydon Coburn, a former Flyer.
In the teams' first meeting this season, the Flyers overcame a 5-1 third-period deficit and sent the game into overtime before losing, 6-5, on Nov. 17. The rematch on Dec. 27 was similar as the Flyers overcame a 5-2 third-period deficit but again lost in overtime, 6-5.
The Flyers tried to stage another comeback as Oskar Lindblom (seven goals in the last 14 games) tapped in Sean Couturier's goal-mouth feed to get within 3-1 with 18:57 left in regulation Tuesday.
The Bolts made it 4-1 when Yanni Gourde scored from a sharp angle from the right circle while Tampa was on a power play with 12:18 remaining, increasing the lead to 4-1. Elliott lost his stick on the play.
Travis Konecny converted a slick feed from Couturier to get the Flyers within 4-2 with 9:09 to go. It was Konecny's 18th goal and his seventh in the last 13 games.
