Kucherov scores twice as Lightning rally past Canucks, 4–2

Nikita Kucherov scored twice in the second period Saturday as the Tampa Bay Lightning erased a two-goal deficit and defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4–2 at Benchmark International Arena.

Linus Karlsson opened the scoring for Vancouver at 15:32 of the first period. Elias Pettersson added a power-play goal at 4:35 of the second, putting the Canucks ahead 2–0 before Tampa Bay scored the game’s final four goals.

Kucherov began the comeback on the power play at 6:30 of the second period, then scored again at 11:23 to send the teams into the second intermission tied.

Jake Guentzel gave Tampa Bay its first lead at 2:04 of the third period. Pontus Holmberg scored at 15:57 to extend the advantage to two goals, completing the scoring listed in the NHL’s official GameCenter.

The Lightning outshot Vancouver 35–14. Dennis Hildeby made 12 saves for Tampa Bay, while Kevin Lankinen stopped 31 shots for the Canucks. Guentzel finished with a goal and an assist, and Brayden Point had two assists.

Tampa Bay improved to 6–2–0 and remained unbeaten in five home games. Vancouver dropped to 2–7–1.