Kucherov has 4 points, Vasilevskiy stops 25 in shutout
UTA at TBL | Recap
TAMPA — Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for the Tampa Bay Lightning in an 8-0 win against the Utah Hockey Club at Amalie Arena on Thursday.
The shutout was Vasilevskiy’s sixth of the season and 40th in the NHL.
Victor Hedman had a goal and two assists, and Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jake Guentzel each scored twice for the Lightning (42-25-5), who have outscored their opponents 14-1 in the past two games and have won five of seven. Brayden Point scored his 300th NHL goal, and Ryan McDonagh had two assists in his 1,000th NHL game.
Tampa Bay moved into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Florida will have a game in hand on both teams following Toronto’s game at the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
Karel Vejmelka allowed seven goals on 11 shots before being pulled at 9:14 of the second period for Utah (32-29-11), who lost their second in a row and have been outscored 13-1 after defeating the Lightning 6-4 last Saturday. Jaxson Stauber allowed four goals on 10 shots in relief.
Utah remained eight points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with two games in hand.
Guentzel gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 1:30 of the first period when he chipped the puck past Vejmelka from the low slot.
Hedman made it 2-0 at 4:20 with a wrist shot from the right circle that deflected off Vejmelka’s glove and into the net.
Gage Goncalves extended it to 3-0 at 5:05 of the second period on a redirect off a shot by Emil Lilleberg.
Kucherov made it 4-0 at 9:14, a backhand to finish off a rush after Point delivered a pass through two Utah defensemen.
Guentzel pushed it to 5-0 at 17:54 with a power-play goal on a snap shot from the low slot.
Oliver Bjorkstrand made it 6-0 at 19:36 on a one-timer from the hash marks off a pass by Yanni Gourde.
Point made it 7-0 at 8:59 when he knocked in a rebound after Stauber saved the initial shot from Kucherov. Bjorkstrand scored his second goal at 14:54 for the 8-0 final.
Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev played his first game at Amalie Arena since being traded from the Lightning during the offseason. Sergachev had 48 goals and 209 assists over seven seasons (2017-2024) with Tampa Bay, helping the Lightning win the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.
