The Vancouver Canucks might feel some relief knowing they won’t have to face the Tampa Bay Lightning top line or forward Jake Guentzel again during the 2024-25 NHL regular season.
Guentzel’s power-play goal with three minutes, 56 seconds left in the game stood as the game-winner for the Lightning in a 4-2 victory over the Canucks on Sunday, earning a season sweep (2-0-0) over Vancouver and jumpstarting their four-game road trip.
Guentzel has 13 goals in 14 career games against Vancouver. His 0.92 goals-per-game rate is the third highest in NHL history against the Canucks, beaten only by Phil Esposito (0.98) and Mario Lemieux (0.93).
Guentzel's latest hampering of the Canucks came just in time, as it answered a Vancouver goal from Kiefer Sherwood 4:52 into the third period, one that made it 2-2 in a Sunday game which looked primed for overtime.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper commended his entire team for the comeback win after a slow start, as Tampa Bay trailed 1-0 through 20 minutes.
“I’ll give them a mulligan on that first period, but they really came out in the second period and pushed. Unfortunately we give up the lead in the third, but ultimately, it turned into a special teams game and we ended up getting two on the power play and gave them nothing,” Cooper said. … “It’s two good teams who battled hard and fortunately for us, we were able to come out on top.”
Tampa Bay went to the power play after the Canucks were called for too many men on the ice with 5:51 remaining in the game, and Guentzel put a halt to thoughts of extra hockey.
Linemate Nikita Kucherov dished a shot pass from the right faceoff circle, one that deflected off Guentzel’s glove and then a Canuck defender’s stick before finding its way into the Vancouver net for a 3-2 lead with 3:56 left in the game.
The goal was initially waved off, but it was deemed a goal after a review.
“I wasn’t sure,” Guentzel said of the winning goal. “I thought he kind of hit the puck into me and it was just a fortunate bounce. That one you'll take and happy with a good team win.”
Brayden Point capped the win with his empty-net goal in the game’s final minute, his second goal and fourth point of the night. Point scored on the power play to make it 2-1 Tampa Bay with 13:31 left in period two.
Point's first goal keeps him atop the league in power-play goals this season (10). Sunday marked the sixth-straight game in which Tampa Bay has scored a power-play goal.
Tampa Bay scored twice in the second period for their first lead of the night and outshot Vancouver 18-5 in the period. It helped the Lightning overcome the 1-0 deficit through 20 minutes.
Vancouver opened the scoring 16:08 into the game when defenseman Quinn Hughes snuck a backhand shot through a netfront screen to beat Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
“That first period they were all over us,” Point said. “We really weren’t playing well but Vasy kept us just the one (goal against). We came in and obviously knew we had to do better, so I think just our work ethic and our compete ramped up in the second and third.”
Sunday marked the return of Kucherov after a two-game absence due to a lower body injury.
Kucherov’s return displayed everything fans have learned to expect from the team’s leading scorer, as he tied the game 1-1 with a one-timer from the right circle 4:40 into the second period after a slick pass by defenseman Ryan McDonagh. Kucherov then assisted on each of the Point and Guentzel goals for a three-point night.
“I’ve watched him do that for a lot of games,” Cooper said of Kucherov. “To miss the games he has, he hasn’t played in 10 days … and comes out and has three points. I’m sure there’s a couple passes he’d like to have back in the d-zone in the third, but he’s a special player. And to pull games out like this, he’s usually a big part of it, and he was tonight.”
Vasilevskiy finished with 23 saves to earn his 12th win of the season, making multiple sprawling saves in the minutes following Guentzel’s game-winner to keep Tampa Bay ahead 3-2.
“It’s phenomenal every night,” Guentzel said of Vasilevskiy. “We gave them a lot of chances, and we’re really comfortable with him back there. He’s going to make a lot of saves, so obviously a great game by him.”
Tampa Bay is now 14-9-2 this season and will stay in Canada to face the Edmonton Oilers—who are 15-10-2—on Tuesday.
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- Brayden Point, TBL (2 goals, 2 assists)
- Nikita Kucherov, TBL (1 goal, 2 assists)
- Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (23 saves)
