Nikita Kucherov scores twice as Tampa Bay Lightning rally to beat Vancouver Canucks 4-2

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 4, VANCOUVER CANUCKS 2 — Nikita Kucherov scored twice as the Tampa Bay Lightning completed a rally against the Vancouver Canucks, winning 4-2 at Benchmark International Arena on Saturday.

The Lightning improved to 6-2-0 overall and extended their strong home start to 5-0-0. Vancouver fell to 2-7-1 and are winless over their last seven games, posting a record of 0-6-1 during the skid. Dennis Hildeby made 12 saves for Tampa Bay while Linus Karlsson and Elias Petterson scored for Vancouver; Kevin Lankinen finished with 31 saves.

Vancouver struck first when Linus Karlsson scored at 15:32 of the opening period. His goal came on a slap shot from the top of the right circle, giving the Canucks a 1-0 lead.

The Canucks doubled their advantage early in the second period. At 4:35, Elias Petterson scored on the power play to extend Vancouver’s lead to 2-0. After Hildeby turned away a one-timer from Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Petterson gathered the puck and finished from a sharp angle from the goal line.

Tampa Bay responded by narrowing the gap at 6:30 of the second period. Kucherov scored on another power play to make it 2-1. He converted on a follow-up shot from the right circle after Lankinen saved Kucherov’s initial attempt.

Kucherov then evened the game at 11:23, bringing the score level at 2-2. The Lightning forward snapped the puck in from the left side off a face-off win by Brayden Point.

Just over three minutes later, Tampa Bay took its first lead of the game. Jake Guentzel scored at 2:04 of the third period when his shot from the point deflected off Liam Ohgren’s stick and beat Lankinen, giving the Lightning a 3-2 advantage.

Pontus Holmberg added an insurance goal to complete the scoring at 15:57. After Zemgus Girgensons won the puck back for an offensive-zone face-off, Holmberg collected it and skated in front of the net before scoring on a shot below the hash marks.

Guentzel finished with a goal and an assist, and Brayden Point added two assists for Tampa Bay. For Vancouver, Petterson tallied the power-play goal, while the Canucks’ offence also included goals from Karlsson and Petterson as they continued to search for a first win in their current stretch.