NHL

Toronto Maple Leafs at Tampa Bay Lightning

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Kucherov hits 30 goals again as Lightning roll past Maple Leafs 4-2 for 6th straight win

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Game Highlights

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.

Up next Maple Leafs: Play at Florida on Thursday night.

Lighting: Play at Carolina on Thursday night.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 7:07 Brayden Point Goal (12) Wrist Shot, assists: Charle-Edouard D'Astous (15), Pontus Holmberg (9)
Goal 2nd Period 7:58 Gage Goncalves Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Nikita Kucherov (63), Charle-Edouard D'Astous (16)
Goal 3rd Period 2:59 Nikita Kucherov Goal (30) Slap Shot, assists: Gage Goncalves (12), Brayden Point (20)
Goal 3rd Period 16:19 John Tavares Goal (21) Wrist Shot, assists: William Nylander (35), Matthew Knies (33)
Goal 3rd Period 16:30 Brayden Point Goal (13) Wrist Shot, assists: Nikita Kucherov (64), Gage Goncalves (13)
Goal 3rd Period 17:13 Matthew Knies Goal (15) Snap Shot, assists: William Nylander (36), Auston Matthews (23)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tor.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTOR https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tb.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTB
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 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 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:

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
Full Standings