The Tampa Bay Lightning treated fans at AMALIE Arena in Tampa to a home-opening victory on Tuesday night.
The Bolts used quick offense in all three periods to earn the win, scoring in the first five minutes of each frame.
Nikita Kucherov scored his fourth goal in as many periods to kickstart the Bolts’ attack and give the home team a 1-0 lead in the first period, and Brayden Point scored to make it 2-0 five minutes into the middle frame. Point led the Lightning with two points.
Anthony Cirelli scored his first goal of 2024-25 just 21 seconds into the third period before Vancouver scored with one second remaining on a 4-on-3 power play nearly four minutes later.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy earned his second win of the season, stopping 26 of 27 shots.
Another home game awaits the Lightning this Thursday as the Vegas Golden Knights (3-1-0 this season) visit AMALIE Arena for a 7 p.m.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL 1, VAN 0
3:55 Nikita Kucherov (4) - Darren Raddysh, Brayden Point
Nikita Kucherov got the offense rolling for Tampa Bay on Tuesday when he forced a turnover in the offensive zone and dished the puck over to Brayden Point in the high slot. Point found Darren Raddysh streaking into zone, who then found Kucherov near the middle hashmark for the Russian forward’s fourth goal of the year.
Shots: TBL 10, VAN 6
2nd Period
TBL 2, VAN 0
5:18 Brayden Point (2) - Jake Guentzel, Ryan McDonagh
Less than 30 seconds after killing a minor penalty to Victor Hedman, the Lightning doubled their lead five minutes into the middle frame. Bolts forward Jake Guentzel dashed into the offensive zone before turning back with the puck and feeding Point for a one-timer slap-shot from the right faceoff circle to beat Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs’ glove on the far post.
3rd Period
TBL 3, VAN 0
0:21 Anthony Cirelli (1) – Brandon Hagel, Nick Paul
Center Anthony Cirelli buried his first goal of 2024-25 in the opening minute of the third period. Cirelli slipped a rebound through the five-hole of Silovs, finishing a cross-crease pass from Brandon Hagel.
TBL 3, VAN 1
4:14 Connor Garland (2) – Brock Boeser, JT Miller – PP
The Canucks cut into the Lightning lead with one second remaining on a 4-on-3 power play in the third period. Garland tucked a loose puck home from the crease after a point shot.
TBL 4, VAN 1
18:14 Brandon Hagel (1) – Nick Paul, Anthony Cirelli
An empty-net goal from Hagel sealed the win for Tampa Bay. The goal gave the Bolts’ second line of Hagel, Paul and Cirelli two points each for the night.
