Nikita Kucherov scored twice as the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied for a 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks at Benchmark International Arena on Saturday.
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Tampa Bay improved to 5-0-0 at home this season and sent the Vancouver Canucks to their seventh straight loss with a 4-2 comeback victory at Benchmark International Arena on Saturday.
Kucherov scored the key goals for the Lightning, while Jake Guentzel added a goal and an assist. Brayden Point also had two assists, and Dennis Hildeby made 12 saves as Tampa Bay moved to 6-2-0 overall.
Vancouver scored first when Linus Karlsson opened the scoring at 15:32 of the first period, followed by Elias Pettersson extending the lead to 2-0 at 4:35 of the second period with a power-play goal. Pettersson later converted after a one-timer by Jonathan Lekkerimaki was stopped by Hildeby.
Tampa Bay narrowed the gap at 6:30 of the second period on Kucherov’s power-play goal, and Kucherov tied the game 2-2 at 11:23 of the second with a snap shot off a face-off win from Point. Guentzel then gave the Lightning a 3-2 lead at 2:04 of the third period when his shot from the point deflected off Liam Ohgren’s stick and caught Kevin Lankinen out of position.
Pontus Holmberg sealed the scoring with a 4-2 goal at 15:57 after Zemgus Girgensons won an offensive-zone face-off and Holmberg scored on a shot below the hash marks. Lankinen finished with 31 saves for the Canucks.
After the game, Kucherov said, “We stuck to the system and put pucks to the net,” adding, “Good things happened.” Lightning coach Jon Cooper also credited a winning mentality, saying the puck “went in for (Kucherov) tonight” and that he “really has that shooter's mentality going on right now.” Vancouver coach Many Malhotra said the team needs to be better across the “non-negotiable” details, including “face-off details,” describing the learning process as “the hard way.”
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