There was finally some things for the Lightning to celebrate this season
It was quite the afternoon for the Tampa Bay Lightning with two of the franchise’s biggest names, Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman, hitting incredible career milestones within minutes of each other.
While the Lightning have been one of the league’s best teams for nearly a decade, the team has found itself struggling to open the 2025-26 NHL season.
Going into Saturday’s game at home against the Anaheim Ducks, the Bolts were just 1-4-2, which put them at the very bottom of a tough Atlantic Division.
So, there hasn’t been much to cheer about for the Lightning or their fans this season, but with about seven minutes to play in the second period and the game tied at 1-1, there was a big reason to celebrate.
Nikita Kucherov hit Brayden Point with a great feed after entering the Ducks zone, which Point then slid past Anaheim goalie Lukáš Dostál to a waiting Jake Guentzel, who tapped it into the back of the net.
That secondary assist for Kucherov was the Russian scoring machine’s 1,000th career point.
That makes Kucherov just the second player in franchise history to hit the 1,000 point plateau, along with now-Nashville Predator Steven Stamkos, and Kucherov did it in fewer games.
But just a couple of minutes after the Bolts hopped off the bench to congratulate Kucherov, Hedman hit his own milestone.
A tap-in goal for Anthony Cirelli to extend the lead to 3-1 came with an assist for the Bolts captain, which was his 800th point in the National Hockey League.
That’s mighty impressive for a defenseman, and the Norris Trophy-winning Swede is going to go down as one of the best blueliners of his generation.
Those two goals helped the Lightning to a much-needed 4-3 win over the Ducks. Those two points will go a long way in keeping pace with the rest of the division.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Lightning as they’ll be back in action on Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Read the full article here
