Dennis Hildeby settled in after an early two-goal deficit, and Nikita Kucherov drove the response with two second-period goals as the Tampa Bay Lightning erased Vancouver’s lead for a 4-2 win over the Canucks at Benchmark International Arena on Saturday. Tampa Bay moved to 6-2-0 and remains perfect at home at 5-0-0.
Hildeby finished with 12 saves, while Vancouver’s Kevin Lankinen faced a far heavier workload and stopped 31 shots. Jake Guentzel supplied a goal and an assist, Brayden Point set up two goals, and Pontus Holmberg scored late to put the game away.
After the horn
Vancouver held the edge through the first half of the night. Linus Karlsson opened the scoring at 15:32 of the first period, stepping into a slap shot from the top of the right circle.
The Canucks doubled the margin on the power play at 4:35 of the second. Hildeby denied Jonathan Lekkerimaki’s one-timer, but Elias Pettersson collected the loose puck and beat the Tampa Bay goalie from a severe angle near the goal line.
That was the point where Tampa Bay’s push took hold. Kucherov put the Lightning on the board at 6:30 with a power-play finish, burying the rebound after Lankinen stopped his first attempt from the right circle.
Point then won an offensive-zone draw that helped create Kucherov’s equalizer at 11:23. Kucherov snapped a shot from the left side to make it 2-2, completing a two-goal stretch of less than five minutes.
“We stayed with our structure and kept getting pucks toward the net,” Kucherov said. “That led to good things.”
Lightning coach Jon Cooper liked the shooting mindset from his star winger.
“The puck went in for him tonight,” Cooper said. “He has a real shooter’s mentality right now, and that is what you want. That is how players like him score.”
Tampa Bay took its first lead at 2:04 of the third period. Guentzel’s shot from the point changed direction off the stick of Vancouver forward Liam Ohgren, leaving Lankinen out of position as the puck went in for a 3-2 lead.
Holmberg gave the Lightning breathing room at 15:57. Zemgus Girgensons won the face-off in the Vancouver zone, Holmberg collected the puck and moved into the low slot before beating Lankinen from below the hash marks.
“Even at 2-0, I felt we deserved more from the game,” Tampa Bay defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous said. “We kept working, and I think the better team won.”
Cooper also pointed to Tampa Bay’s work in the face-off circle, particularly after Point’s win helped set up the tying goal.
“It is early in the season, but you always find small areas that need attention,” Cooper said. “Face-offs were a clear focus for us, and the group handled them well.”
The defeat extended Vancouver’s skid to seven games at 0-6-1. The Canucks are 2-7-1 overall and went winless in all six games of their road trip.
Canucks coach Manny Malhotra said the details around the puck and around the crease have continued to hurt his club.
“The little things we keep discussing are not optional if we want to win,” Malhotra said. “Getting into shooting lanes, defending harder at our net and taking care of face-off details all matter. When those areas slip, the puck winds up in your net.”
Karlsson said Vancouver has shown flashes but has not maintained them long enough.
“There are good stretches in most games, but it has not been enough,” Karlsson said. “They had too many Grade-A looks, and we did not help our goalie enough. We need a full 60-minute effort next game.”
Notebook
- Kucherov’s two-point night brought him to 1,134 career NHL points, matching Marian Hossa for 65th place in League history.
- Brandon Hagel recorded an assist for Tampa Bay. He has points in six of his past seven games, producing six goals and five assists in that span.
- Pettersson’s power-play goal was the 65th of his Canucks career, tying Greg Adams for 10th in franchise history.
