Toronto Maple Leafs at Tampa Bay Lightning
· National Hockey LeagueKucherov hits 30 goals again as Lightning roll past Maple Leafs 4-2 for 6th straight win
Brayden Point had two goals and an assist, Gage Goncalves had a goal and two assists and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves for the Lightning, who are 20-1-1 in their past 22 games. Vasilevskiy is 17-0-1 since Dec. 20.
Tampa Bay won in its first game back from the Olympic break without coach Jon Cooper on the bench. Cooper, who led Canada to the silver medal at the Milan Cortina Games, will miss two games after the death of his father, Robert.
Assistant Rob Zettler stepped in for Cooper and the Lightning ended the Maple Leafs' three-game winning streak.
The Russian-born Kucherov got his 700th assist in his 855th NHL game, becoming the second-fastest player born outside of North America to reach the mark and trailing only Peter Stastny (784 games). The milestone assist came on Goncalves' goal at 7:58 of the second period that gave the Lightning a 2-0 lead.
Kucherov's 30th goal came at 2:59 of the third and made it 3-0. His nine 30-goal seasons tie him with Steven Stamkos for the most in team history.
John Tavares and Matthew Knies scored and Anthony Stolarz made 32 saves for the Maple Leafs, whose five-game winning streak against the Lightning was stopped.
With Stolarz pulled to give Toronto an extra skater, Tavares scored with 3:41 remaining to end the shutout bid for Vasilevskiy. It came moments after Jake Guentzel missed an empty-net goal for the Lightning when his shot hit the post.
After Point made it 4-1, Knies capped the scoring with 2:47 left for Toronto. Auston Matthews had an assist on the goal, tying Tim Horton for 10th on the career franchise list with 349.
Lighting: Play at Carolina on Thursday night.
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Regular Season SeriesSeries tied 1-1
Scoring Summary
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Goal | 2nd Period 7:07 | Brayden Point Goal (12) Wrist Shot, assists: Charle-Edouard D'Astous (15), Pontus Holmberg (9) |
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Goal | 2nd Period 7:58 | Gage Goncalves Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Nikita Kucherov (63), Charle-Edouard D'Astous (16) |
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Goal | 3rd Period 2:59 | Nikita Kucherov Goal (30) Slap Shot, assists: Gage Goncalves (12), Brayden Point (20) |
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Goal | 3rd Period 16:19 | John Tavares Goal (21) Wrist Shot, assists: William Nylander (35), Matthew Knies (33) |
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Goal | 3rd Period 16:30 | Brayden Point Goal (13) Wrist Shot, assists: Nikita Kucherov (64), Gage Goncalves (13) |
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Goal | 3rd Period 17:13 | Matthew Knies Goal (15) Snap Shot, assists: William Nylander (36), Auston Matthews (23) |
Statistics
TOR |
TB |
|
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Blocked Shots | 11 |
| 18 | Hits | 17 |
| 7 | Takeaways | 3 |
| 34 | Shots | 36 |
| 1 | Power Play Goals | 0 |
| 2 | Power Play Opportunities | 4 |
| 50.0 | Power Play Percentage | 0.0 |
| 0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 34 | Faceoffs Won | 28 |
| 54.8 | Faceoff Win Percent | 45.2 |
| 15 | Giveaways | 9 |
| 4 | Total Penalties | 2 |
| 8 | Penalty Minutes | 4 |
Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Anthony Cirelli, C | Day-To-Day | Feb 26 |
| Nick Paul, LW | Injured Reserve | Feb 25 |
Toronto Maple Leafs Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Tanev, D | Injured Reserve | Jan 28 |
Game Information
Benchmark International Arena
Location: Tampa, FL
Attendance: 19,092 | Capacity:
Location: Tampa, FL
Attendance: 19,092 | Capacity:
2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tampa Bay |
38 | 15 | 80 | 4 |
Detroit |
34 | 19 | 74 | 6 |
Montreal |
32 | 17 | 73 | 9 |
Buffalo |
33 | 19 | 72 | 6 |
Boston |
33 | 20 | 71 | 5 |
Ottawa |
28 | 22 | 64 | 8 |
Florida |
30 | 25 | 63 | 3 |
Toronto |
27 | 23 | 63 | 9 |




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