Kucherov has four points in Lightning win against Red Wings

TAMPA -- Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Amalie Arena on Thursday.
It was the fifth four-point game of Kucherov's NHL career, first since Feb. 27, 2017. His 76 points (31 goals, 45 assists) lead the League.

Steven Stamkos scored two goals, and defenseman Victor Hedman had three assists for the Lightning, who won for the first time in three games. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 38 saves for his NHL-leading 34th win.
WATCH: [All Red Wings vs. Lightning highlights]
Tampa Bay (39-16-3, 81 points) has the best record in the NHL and leads the Boston Bruins by three points for first place in the Atlantic Division.
"We're just trying to do our best every game and don't cheat the game," Kucherov said. "We get rewarded when we play the right way, and that's what happened today."

Tomas Tatar scored for the Red Wings, who have lost 11 straight regular-season games to the Lightning. Jimmy Howard made 28 saves.
Detroit (23-24-9, 55 points) trails the Carolina Hurricanes by eight points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"I thought we've been closer, we had two wins and we lose this one," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "We're close, we just have to keep getting points and keep winning games. We did a lot of good things here today, but there are things we have to be better at."
Stamkos gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead 3:55 into the game when he scored with a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Hedman.
Kucherov scored on the power play at 7:05 of the first period to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead.
"They are good at taking care of their opportunities," Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson said. "We had our chances tonight too, but we didn't capitalize on them. From time to time, we played really good, but we don't capitalize and they do."

Stamkos made it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 18:08 of the second period. Kucherov made a cross-ice feed to set up Stamkos for a one-timer from the left face-off circle.
"[Kucherov] is one of the best in the game for a reason," Stamkos said. "The respect that everyone has to have for his shot makes that pass even more lethal because everyone, including the goalie, is expecting that shot."
Tatar scored on the power play with 31 seconds left in the period to get the Red Wings within 3-1.
Alex Killorn scored at 1:35 of the third period to make it 4-1 when he beat Howard on a backhand shot.

"As soon as the calendar turned February, [Killorn] has really turned it up," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Early in the year, he didn't quite have that jump, he didn't have that speed to his game and that physicality. It's slowly been coming around and now the points are coming, and it's richly deserved."

Goal of the game

Kucherov's goal at 7:05 of the first period.

Save of the game

Vasilevskiy stopping defenseman Trevor Daley at 14:12 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Stamkos' goal at 18:08 of the second period.

They said it

"Their stars were good tonight. Their superstars showed up, for sure. We got to make sure that we have the ability at the elite level to score. It's not good enough to just create chances. We got to find ways the puck ends up in the net." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill
"Some teams just have a team's number. Maybe it can get in your head a little bit. It works both ways. But we've played them so much over the years and we know each other really well. And there are games in there when they outplayed us but we ended up winning. So, every game hasn't been indicative of the outcome, but fortunately for us we've had the upper hand." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper on their 11-game winning streak against the Red Wings

Need to know

Kucherov had the first four four-point games of his NHL career last season. ... Killorn has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in February. ... Red Wings forward Frans Nielsen did not have a point for the first time in six games. He had two goals and five assists during a five-game point streak. ... The Red Wings have scored two goals or fewer in nine of their past 13 games.

What's next

Red Wings: At the Nashville Predators on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, FS-D, NHL.TV)
Lightning: Host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SUN, MSG+, NHL.TV)