Nikita Kucherov, the NHL’s scoring leader, had two goals and an assist — including the winner at 3:12 of overtime — as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the host Seattle Kraken 4-3 Saturday night.
Anthony Cirelli added a goal and an assist and Nicholas Paul also scored for the Lightning, who evened their record at 1-1-0 to start their five-game trip. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jamie Oleksiak and Jared McCann scored for Seattle, which lost its seventh straight (0-5-2). Philipp Grubauer stopped 21 of 23 shots before leaving after two periods with an injury. Joey Daccord stopped five of seven shots the rest of the way.
The winner came after Brandon Hagel drove the puck down the right wing and made a centering pass for Kucherov, who beat Daccord with a one-timer from the low slot.
McCann gave the Kraken their first lead during their skid when he scored a power-play goal on a slap shot from just outside the top of the left faceoff circle 14 seconds into the third period.
The Lightning tied it at 7:09 of the period as Paul tipped Cirelli’s shot past Daccord. Kucherov got a secondary assist on the goal.
The Lightning built a two-goal lead in the first period, in which they outshot the Kraken 14-4.
Cirelli opened the scoring at 9:28, redirecting a shot from the right point past a screened Grubauer.
The Lightning struck again in the final minute of the period. Three Kraken players encircled an airborne puck in the high slot but none of them were able to clear it, allowing Kucherov to gain possession.
Kucherov sent a drop pass to Hagel, who found Brayden Point on the right wing. Point sent a pass across the top of the crease to Kucherov, who had an easy tap-in at the far post with 43.8 seconds remaining.
The Kraken tied it in the second and had another goal disallowed.
Devin Shore appeared to pull Seattle within 2-1 at 3:37 of the period, tipping Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s fluttering shot past Vasilevskiy. But a video review determined the Kraken were offside when they entered the offensive zone.
Bjorkstrand then made 2-1 at 9:52 on a seemingly benign wrist shot from along the right-wing boards at the top of the faceoff circle. Vasilevskiy seemed to be partially screened by teammate Victor Hedman.
Oleksiak tied it at 12:23 on a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that seemed to handcuff Vasilevskiy.
–Field Level Media
