Tampa Bay Lightning Close Out Season With Win

The Tampa Bay Lightning head into the NHL postseason riding a 6-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday at Amalie Arena.

Records on Records

The Lightning closed out the regular season with a spectacular finish. Beating the Toronto Maple Leafs was only half of the night’s accomplishment.

With the Maple Leafs Auston Matthews coming up short in his bid to be the ninth player in NHL history to score 70 goals in a season, the lights shined on Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov.

Kucherov put one in the net in the first period, but glory came in the second.

Taking advantage of an existing power play, Kucherov found teammate Brayden Point for a goal. Kucherov reached the century mark with this assist to become the fifth player in NHL history to reach 100 assists in a season.

Five players in history, two this season. Kucherov did this only two days after Connor Mcdavid reached the same milestone for Edmonton.

Kucherov finished the season as the league’s leading scorer with 144 points.

History was made. ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/sZ45z9HjMk

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 18, 2024

Lightning Strikes… Six Times

Tampa got to scoring early and made sure to keep it often.

The first goal came just under four minutes into the first period for Nicholas Paul. The next came three minutes later when Kucherov slapped goal No. 44 on the season into the net.

The second period was the period of the Lightning. Three uninterrupted goals from Anthony Duclair, Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel broke the game free.

In the span of 10 long minutes for the Maple Leafs, Tampa soared in front to take a 5-1 lead.

Tanner Jeannot found the net early in the third, but the Lightning simmered down from there.

Three straight goals from the Maple Leafs following would make the game closer, but 6-4 was all she wrote.

The Tampa Bay Lightning finished the regular season 45-29-8.

https://twitter.com/TBLightning/status/1780783137821237692

The Battle for Florida

Florida vs. Florida, with all the stakes. It’s a postseason war for the sunshine state.

The Lightning find their in-state counterpart, the Florida Panthers, as their first-round opponent in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday in Sunrise.

The Panthers enter the postseason after conquering the Atlantic Division. They finished in first place with a record of 52-24-6.

The Lightning look to bring home their third Stanley Cup in five seasons, starting a dynasty that reigns down command over the NHL.