NHL

Vancouver Canucks at Tampa Bay Lightning

· National Hockey League

Kucherov gets 4th goal of the season, Lightning beat Canucks 4-1 in Milton-delayed home opener

Vancouver Canucks vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Game Highlights

Kucherov had a hat trick the last time the Lightning took the ice, and he was the one to open the scoring against the Canucks off a feed from Darren Raddysh 3:55 into the game.

The Lightning were scheduled to open the home season Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes, but the game was postponed due to the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel each had a goal and an assist in the win, while Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves in net.

Conor Garland scored Vancouver's only goal on a power play in the third period. Arturs Silovs stopped 24 shots for the Canucks.

Takeaways Canucks: Vancouver is 0-1-2 after winning 50 games last season. The offense has eight goals, including five in the first period, through three games.

Lightning: After spending most of last week in Raleigh, North Carolina, due to Hurricane Milton, some players and staff, including coach Jon Cooper, are staying in hotels due to ongoing power outages. The off-ice situation has not affected their performance in games.

Key moment After Tampa Bay failed to make it 3-0 during a late second-period power play, Vasilevskiy made strong saves on Tyler Myers and Brock Boeser. Garland also put a shot off the post during that stretch.

Key stat Kucherov had a point on all of the Lightning's first five goals to start the season. Only Connor McDavid (nine, 2018-19), Adam Oates (seven, 1986-87), Andre Boudrias (six, 1973-74), Bill Cowley (six, 1938-39) and Aurele Joliat (six, 1929-30) have longer streaks.

Up next The Lightning remain at home Thursday night to face the Golden Knights. Vancouver plays Florida on the road on Thursday night.

Regular Season Series

TB leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 3:55 Nikita Kucherov Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Darren Raddysh (1), Brayden Point (1)
Goal 2nd Period 7:43 Brayden Point Goal (2) Slap Shot, assists: Jake Guentzel (3), Ryan McDonagh (1)
Goal 3rd Period 0:39 Anthony Cirelli Goal (1) Backhand, assists: Brandon Hagel (1), Nicholas Paul (2)
Goal 3rd Period 4:14 Conor Garland Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Brock Boeser (1), Jake DeBrusk (2)
Goal 3rd Period 18:14 Brandon Hagel Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Nicholas Paul (3), Anthony Cirelli (1)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/van.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originVAN https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tb.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTB
15 Blocked Shots 19
23 Hits 13
8 Takeaways 3
27 Shots 27
1 Power Play Goals 0
3 Power Play Opportunities 5
33.3 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
28 Faceoffs Won 23
54.9 Faceoff Win Percent 45.1
10 Giveaways 13
5 Total Penalties 4
14 Penalty Minutes 8
Tampa Bay Lightning Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Victor Hedman, D Out Mar 25
Maxwell Crozier, D Injured Reserve Mar 19
Declan Carlile, D Injured Reserve Mar 14
Dominic James, C Injured Reserve Mar 5
Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Thatcher Demko, G Injured Reserve Mar 3
Jonathan Lekkerimaki, RW Out Feb 27
Filip Chytil, C Injured Reserve Feb 25
Derek Forbort, D Injured Reserve Oct 28

Game Information

Benchmark International Arena

Location: Tampa, FL
Attendance: 19,092 | Capacity:

2025-26 Pacific Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Anaheim 41 27 86 4
Edmonton 36 28 81 9
Vegas 32 26 79 15
Los Angeles 29 25 76 18
Seattle 32 29 74 10
San Jose 32 31 71 7
Calgary 30 34 68 8
Vancouver 21 42 50 8

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 44 21 96 8
Tampa Bay 44 21 94 6
Montreal 40 21 90 10
Boston 40 24 88 8
Ottawa 38 24 86 10
Detroit 39 25 86 8
Toronto 31 29 75 13
Florida 35 33 73 3
Full Standings