Kucherov ties Lightning records with 6 points, 5 assists in win against Flames

CALGARY -- Nikita Kucherov had a goal and five assists to help the Tampa Bay Lightning to an 8-3 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.

The six points and five assists tied Lightning single-game records.

"It just makes the game so much easier, especially playing on his line," Tampa Bay forward Brayden Point said of Kucherov. "He had six points tonight ... just incredible. It's not hard to believe coming from 'Kuch,' but he's been rolling this season and he's a big part of our wins."

Jake Guentzel scored a hat trick, Point had a goal and three assists, and Anthony Cirelli had a goal and two assists for Tampa Bay (15-10-2), which has won three of four. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves in his 500th NHL game.

"He's been the backbone of this team, backbone of this franchise for the last decade here," Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "Credit to him. He's so consistent and hungry to win and we feed off his competitiveness. Great for us to come through in a milestone game for him."

Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist, and Connor Zary and Nazem Kadri scored for Calgary (14-11-5), which has lost seven of nine (2-5-2). Dan Vladar made 18 saves.

"Just didn't defend very well ... that's what it comes down to," Kadri said. "That was pretty nonexistent. Did a good job trying to get back into the game but just gave them too many opportunities and that's what good players do. They shove it down your throat."

Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman did not play because of a lower-body injury and is day to day, and defenseman J.J. Moser left the game in the second period because of an apparent lower-body injury and is doubtful for Saturday's game at the Seattle Kraken. Tampa Bay is also without defenseman Erik Cernak, who has missed two games because of a lower-body injury.

"It's a tough league to stay healthy in, and we got banged up in Vancouver (a 4-2 win on Sunday) and we're just trying to hold it together here until we get home," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

Huberdeau put Calgary up 1-0 at 4:42 of the first. Cirelli backchecked to knock the puck away from Martin Pospisil on a 2-on-1 rush, but he inadvertently swept it over to Huberdeau before he shot by Vasilevskiy.

Kucherov tied it 1-1 at 18:40 with a shot by Vladar's blocker on a breakaway created by a Huberdeau turnover at the Lightning blue line.

Guentzel put Tampa Bay up 2-1 at 6:25 of the second period, shooting over Vladar's pad and under his glove off the rush, and Point extended the lead to 3-1 at 7:55 when he one-timed a one-touch pass from Kucherov on the power play.

Cirelli made it 4-1 at 11:05 with another power-play goal. He chipped a shot by Vladar's blocker after the rebound on Point's initial shot was blocked and pinballed into the crease.

"It wasn't pretty out there," said Huberdeau. "Just get this one behind us and come back tomorrow, a new day. We just can't let this happen ever again and come back and play hard at home."

Kadri trimmed it to 4-2 at 12:14, shooting under Vasilevskiy's right arm after hurdling Moser and winning a race to a dump-in.

Zary snapped a shot from the slot over Vasilevskiy's glove to cut it to 4-3 at 14:50.

Brandon Hagel scored 43 seconds into the third period on a wrist shot over Vladar's blocker to make it 5-3. Guentzel then pushed it 6-3 at 11:34 when he lifted a backhand top corner on a partial breakaway set up by Kucherov on the power play.

"They came out hard and scored the first shift of the third period," Kadri said. "A breakdown by us and they took advantage of it and ended up scoring. I don't think we did a very good job of helping ‘Vladdy’ tonight. We kind of hung him out to dry a little bit. That's what happens when you don't defend a great team off the rush. They're going to make you pay."

Conor Geekie finished a 2-on-1 off a setup Hagel at 13:24 to make it 7-3.

Guentzel finished a backdoor tap-in off a pass from Point at 17:21 for the 8-3 final.

"There's 20 minutes to play and we have a one goal lead ... let's see what winning looks like," Cooper said. "It's not the fact we scored four. It's the fact that we didn't give anything up. That's how you win hockey games. You can't sit here and say we're just going to score ourselves to a win. In the third we defended ourselves to a win and that's what I was proud of."

NOTES: Doug Crossman (Nov. 7, 1992), Kucherov (Nov. 24, 2023) and Point (March 14, 2024) are the other six-point games in Lightning history. … The other five-assist games for the Lightning were by Mark Recchi (March 1, 2009), Martin St. Louis (Nov. 18, 2010), Darren Raddysh (March 9, 2024) and Hagel (Nov. 25, 2024). … Kucherov has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in a three-game point streak. ... Vasilevskiy holds the NHL record for most wins through 500 games with 306. ... Guentzel has eight points (seven goals, one assist) in a five-game point streak. ... Huberdeau has a six-game point streak (nine points; four goals, five assists).