Kucherov returns with two assists, helps Lightning top Flames

TAMPA -- Nikita Kucherov had two assists in his first game since Oct. 16, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Calgary Flames 4-1 at Amalie Arena on Thursday.

The forward missed 32 games with a lower-body injury and had surgery Oct. 26.
"For him to miss as much time and come in to play a big, fast team like we just did and do the things that he did ... he's elite," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "But he'll be the first to tell you that he's got more in the tank."

Ryan McDonagh had two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves for the Lightning (23-8-5), who are 8-0-1 in their past nine home games but were 1-2-1 in their previous four overall.
Dillon Dube scored for the Flames (17-9-6), who have lost six of their past eight. Dan Vladar made 29 saves in his first start since Dec. 7.
"I just thought they were a lot quicker than us and made a lot more plays," Calgary forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "Defensively they didn't give us much and their goalie was solid when he needed to be."
Corey Perry gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 12:21 of the second period after he chipped the puck past Vladar off a pass from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. It was Perry's fourth goal in his past six games.
"I thought we played really well," Perry said. "We limited their chances in the first couple of periods. We were on top of them. We were hard, we were physical. We didn't allow any odd-man rushes. It's a good recipe."
Brayden Point extended the lead to 2-0 at 2:52 of the third period when he scored at the left post off a cross-ice pass from Kucherov.
"It was nice to be back, that's for sure," Kucherov said. "It's never easy [coming back from injury], it's getting tougher and tougher."
Ondrej Palat made it 3-0 at 10:10 of the third when he scored in the low slot off Kucherov's pass from below the goal line. Alex Killorn made it 4-0 14 seconds later at 10:24.
"[Kucherov] made some plays out there ... that second goal to set up 'Pointer' ... that's elite," Cooper said. "He's probably only going to get better here when he gets his legs under him."

Dube cut it to 4-1 at 15:54 with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle.
"It's a one-goal game (entering the third)," Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said, "but at the same time, you've got to finish your opportunities that you do get against these top teams. There's a difference between them and us, that's for sure."
Flames forward Blake Coleman had two shots on goal and eight hits in his first game against the Lightning since signing with them as a free agent in the offseason. He helped Tampa Bay win the Stanley Cup the past two seasons.
Coleman received his 2021 Stanley Cup ring during a ceremony in front of many of his former teammates Thursday morning. He was honored with a video tribute in the first period.
"While I have certainly moved on and I'm proud to be a part of the Flames now, I definitely have a bond with those guys that will last forever," Coleman said. "To relive that with them was special. Obviously I wanted to come out of here with two points on top of it, but we're going to take some pretty valuable lessons away from this and move forward."
NOTES: The Lightning (51 points) became the first team to reach 50 points this season and have done it first in four of five seasons. ... Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau had his four-game point streak end. … Calgary forward Brad Richardson received a match penalty at 14:41 of the second period for an illegal check to the head of Tampa Bay forward Mathieu Joseph.