Tampa Bay overcame a 2-0 deficit and defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Oct. 17, 2026.
The Story
Kevin Lankinen turned away several early scoring chances as the Tampa Bay Lightning began their Oct. 17, 2026 game against the Vancouver Canucks with a scoreless stretch, including three saves in the first nine minutes. Lankinen stopped a Gage Goncalves tip, a Victor Hedman one-timer and a Jake Guentzel in-alone chance.
Vancouver finally broke through 12 seconds after a power play ended. Linus Karlsson beat Dennis Hildeby with a right-circle slapshot at 15:32.
The Canucks extended the lead early in the second period, when another power play set up the goal. After Ryan McDonagh broke his stick and Tampa Bay failed to clear, the rebound came to Elias Pettersson, who finished into the open side of the net at 4:35 to make it 2-0.
Tampa Bay responded quickly. Exactly 60 seconds after Pettersson’s goal, Liam Ohgren was assessed a hooking penalty and put the Lightning on the power play. Fifty-five seconds later, Nikita Kucherov converted, firing a shot into the top of the net at 6:30 after Lankinen made the initial save but lost his stick.
Less than five minutes after that, the Lightning tied the game. At 11:23, Brayden Point won a faceoff that sent the puck to the middle of the ice for Kucherov, who shot past Lankinen to make it 2-2.
The Lightning took their first lead at 2:04 of the third period. Guentzel’s shot from the blue line deflected off Ohgren and into the Vancouver net.
Tampa Bay added insurance at 15:57 when Pontus Holmberg jumped on a loose puck in the offensive zone, swerved through the low slot and wired a shot through Lankinen’s pads.
Vancouver finished with 37 shot attempts, but Tampa Bay’s goaltending and shot-blocking kept the Canucks from closing the gap. The Lightning also highlighted two areas of success: they went 1-for-1 on the power play and won 33 of 53 faceoffs.
For the three stars selected by Phil Esposito, Pontus Holmberg was recognized for his goal for the Lightning, while Nikita Kucherov earned star honours for scoring two goals and Brayden Point was selected for two assists.
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