Kucherov has 2 goals, 2 assists to help Lightning defeat Blue Jackets

TAMPA -- Nikita Kucherov had two goals and two assists for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 6-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.

Nicholas Paul had a goal and an assist, and Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman each had two assists for the Lightning (25-13-1), who have won eight straight at home. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves.
"The guys like scoring goals, we like scoring goals, but we got away with giving up three tonight," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "And that's definitely one too many. We will hopefully be a little bit better against Vancouver (on Thursday)."
Tim Berni scored his first NHL goal, Patrik Laine had two assists, and Elvis Merzlikins made 40 saves for the Blue Jackets (12-26-2), who have lost four of their past five and 10 straight on the road.
"You don't want to give anything for free and I feel like we did that," Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. "[The Lightning] are good enough to generate [offense] on their own. They make you pay on mistakes, they're really good at that."

Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 1:40 of the first period when he redirected a pass from Erik Cernak at the right side of the net.
Paul extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 9:05, redirecting a touch pass off a fake shot from Kucherov.
"When you're the ice with him you expect the unexpected," Paul said. "He didn't look at me once and it's right on my tape. Couple of shifts I had before, I kind of learned to keep my stick on the ice. You get in the shot lane, and the next thing you know my stick is open and he slides it right across without even looking. He's a special player."
Gavin Bayreuther cut it 2-1 at 7:04 of the second period with a shot that deflected off the stick of Tampa Bay forward Brandon Hagel.
"First and foremost their power play is lethal," Bayreuther said of the Lightning, who were 3-for-4 with the man-advantage. "Kucherov is one of the best half-wall guys in the League. That being said, I think we gave up again. Guys get frustrated. It's hard, it's really hard to win in this League, but it's really unfortunate."
Vladislav Namestnikov gave Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead on a breakaway at 10:25.
"Goals haven't come easy this year, so you have to take the opportunity and I got one there on the breakaway," Namestnikov said. "I saw I had a clear lane and he was out of position, so I took it to the backhand."

Berni made it 3-2 at 4:35 of the third period with a wrist shot from the top of the slot off a Laine feed. It was Bernie's first NHL point in his 17th game.
"Obviously a cool moment, super fun to score my first one and get the team back [within] 3-2 I think it was at the time," Berni said. "I would've liked to win when I scored my first, but it was fun."
Kucherov's power-play goal from the right face-off circle put Tampa Bay ahead 4-2 at 6:33.
Brayden Point pushed it to 5-2 on the power play at 12:22 with a backhand in the slot, and Ross Colton made it 6-2 at 13:48.
"We're learning the hard way," Larsen said. "Guys are trying, they're giving effort. We get back within a goal and then we take penalties. You take two penalties against a group like that and they make you pay."

Kirill Marchenko scored on his own rebound off the end boards at 16:34 for the 6-3 final.
"It was good for the most part," Hedman said. "Obviously we would like to have the last two goals back. We win and lose as a team, but we don't want to give up three goals. That's not going to get you too far in the playoffs."
NOTES: Point scored in his ninth straight home game, extending his Lightning record and tying Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid for the longest streak in the NHL this season. ... Kucherov has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his past eight games. ... Stamkos has the most home assists in Tampa Bay history (300), passing Martin St. Louis (298). ... The Blue Jackets are 4-20-1 this season when giving up the first goal. ... Laine got his first point since Dec. 20, ending a six-game drought.