Man, what a night across the league! Our Seattle Kraken just pulled off a HUGE 4-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings, giving us something to cheer about right here at home. But over in Vegas, the Tampa Bay Lightning absolutely torched the Golden Knights, rolling to a 6-2 victory thanks to a two-goal performance from Anthony Cirelli and a historic three-point effort from Nikita Kucherov that tied their club’s career scoring record.
Kucherov’s History-Making Night
Nikita Kucherov was on another level Tuesday night, wasn’t he? He tallied a goal and two assists, pushing his career total to 1,137 points. That means he is now officially tied with former teammate Steven Stamkos for the Tampa Bay franchise record. Just incredible. And it is not like this was a one-off against Vegas. Kucherov has now scored at least one point in ALL 15 games he has ever played against the Golden Knights. Think about that consistency! Only Mario Lemieux with 26 games against Calgary and Tomas Sandstrom with 17 games against Tampa Bay himself have longer active point streaks against a single opponent. Even Connor McDavid had a 17-game run against New Jersey that snapped earlier this year. When Kucherov steps on the ice against Vegas, he brings it every single time. This kind of consistent excellence is what makes teams truly dangerous.
Lightning’s Explosive Start Continues
The Bolts are looking like a serious force, kicking off their season with a stellar 7-2 record. This is their best start since the 2020-21 season, when they went 7-1-1 and ended up hoisting the Stanley Cup. That is a pretty good omen, don’t you think? They just blew past a Golden Knights team that had won seven of their last eight games, so this was no easy feat. The game itself was wide open early, with both squads trading blows and scoring twice in the first period. But the Lightning cranked it up in the second, exploding for three goals on only 14 shots to take a commanding 5-2 lead. Cirelli got things going, first making it 3-2 off a sweet pass from Kucherov, then scoring unassisted to extend the lead to 4-2. Victor Hedman also found the back of the net from the left point, a shot that somehow slipped past Vegas goalie Carter Hart late in the second. Kucherov then sealed the deal with a breakaway goal early in the third, making it 6-2. Andrei Vasilevskiy was sharp in net for Tampa Bay, stopping 32 shots. Vegas got goals from Ivan Barbashev, his first of the season, and Mark Stone, who snagged his fifth in three games. Other Lightning scorers included Brandon Hagel and John Carlson. But it just wasn’t enough to contain this surging Lightning squad. Former Lightning draft pick Brett Howden played in his 500th career game, his 322nd for Vegas, so congrats to him on a big milestone too.
This Lightning team is showing everyone they mean business from day one, and it is going to be fun watching them keep this momentum rolling. They are heading to Colorado next to face the Avalanche on Friday, while the Golden Knights will try to bounce back on Thursday against the St. Louis Blues. Here in the Emerald City, we are riding high after that Kraken win. Let’s hope our boys keep that fire going!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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