Lightning beat Golden Knights 6-2 as Kucherov ties Tampa Bay points record
Nikita Kucherov reached 1,137 career points with a goal and two assists in Las Vegas, drawing level with Steven Stamkos as the Lightning improved to 7-2.
The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Vegas Golden Knights 6-2 in Las Vegas on Tuesday, October 20, as Nikita Kucherov tied the Lightning’s career points record, according to the Associated Press. Kucherov had a goal and two assists to reach 1,137 points, drawing level with former teammate Steven Stamkos.
Anthony Cirelli scored twice for Tampa Bay, which improved to 7-2. AP described it as the Lightning’s best start since they opened 7-1-1 in 2020-21, a season in which they repeated as Stanley Cup champions. Vegas entered the game having won seven of its previous eight.
How Tampa Bay pulled away from Vegas
The teams were tied 2-2 after the first period. Cirelli put the Lightning ahead 6:44 into the second, scoring from a Kucherov pass, then made it 4-2 with an unassisted goal at 10:09. Tampa Bay scored three times in that period to take a 5-2 lead before Kucherov added a breakaway goal early in the third.
Brandon Hagel, John Carlson and Victor Hedman also scored for the Lightning. Hedman’s shot from the left point was Tampa Bay’s fifth goal on just 14 shots. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots at the other end, while Vegas goaltender Carter Hart made 15 saves on 21 shots, AP reported.
Ivan Barbashev scored his first goal of the season for Vegas, and Mark Stone scored his fifth in three games. Brett Howden, a Lightning first-round draft pick in 2016, played his 500th career NHL game; 322 of those appearances have been for Vegas.
Kucherov reaches Stamkos’s Lightning total
Kucherov began the game three points behind Stamkos. An NHL.com preview listed him at 1,134 career points and said he needed four to move past the former Lightning captain’s 1,137. His three-point night brought him level, with the record still shared after the win.
He has recorded at least one point in each of his 15 games against the Golden Knights, AP reported. The outlet ranked that run behind Mario Lemieux’s 26 games against Calgary and Tomas Sandstrom’s 17 against Tampa Bay among players who scored in every game they played against an opponent.
The game was played at T-Mobile Arena, where The Sporting Tribune documented the October 20 matchup. Tampa Bay is scheduled to visit the Colorado Avalanche on Friday; Vegas is due to visit the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.
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Sources and context
- Lightning beat Golden Knights 6-2 as Kucherov ties franchise points recordAssociated Press (republished by Yahoo Sports)
- TST Images: Lightning defeat Golden Knights, 6-2, at T-Mobile ArenaThe Sporting Tribune
- NHL On Tap: Kaprizov, McDavid go head-to-head in Wild-Oilers showdownNHL.com
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.