Nikita Kucherov Passes Steven Stamkos as Lightning's All-Time Points Leader in OT Loss to Mammoth

Nikita Kucherov is now the most prolific scorer in Tampa Bay Lightning history. The star winger recorded his 1,138th career point on a first-period power-play assist Saturday night in Salt Lake City, passing Steven Stamkos for the franchise record, but the Lightning let a two-goal lead slip away and lost 5-4 in overtime to the Utah Mammoth.

Rookie defenseman Dmitri Simashev scored the first two goals of his NHL career for Utah, tying the game late in the second period and then winning it 1:44 into overtime. The Lightning, who led 3-1 in the first period and 4-2 in the second, left with a point and a 7-3-1 record.

Kucherov passes his mentor

Kucherov entered the night tied with Stamkos at 1,137 points, the mark Stamkos had held as the franchise leader since April 2022. The record fell midway through the first period, when Kucherov set up Brayden Point for a power-play goal that put Tampa Bay ahead 3-1 with 7:18 left in the period. Lightning players came off the bench to celebrate with him on the ice.

The pace of the climb is what stands out. Stamkos reached 1,137 points in 1,082 games with Tampa Bay. Kucherov had played 889 games entering Saturday, according to the Mammoth's pregame notes, meaning he got there nearly 200 games faster. He has spent his entire career with the Lightning since debuting in 2013 and won Stanley Cups alongside Stamkos in 2020 and 2021.

Kucherov tied the record on Tuesday in Las Vegas, where he had a goal and two assists in a 6-2 win over the Golden Knights. He set up Anthony Cirelli for the game-winning goal and closed the scoring with a breakaway goal, while Andrei Vasilevskiy made a season-high 32 saves. Kucherov entered Saturday with 13 points this season, tied with Brandon Hagel for the team lead, and his nine assists led the Lightning.

The record-breaking point was the 1,138th of his career, made up of 405 goals and 733 assists, in his 890th game, according to NBC Sports, which noted he is the reigning Hart Trophy winner as league MVP.

A wild first period

The game had five goals before the first intermission. Jake Guentzel was credited with the opener at 5:10 when a Utah defender inadvertently redirected the puck past his own goaltender, Karel Vejmelka. Kailer Yamamoto answered on a breakaway less than two minutes later.

Pontus Holmberg restored the Tampa Bay lead, and Point's power-play goal, the record-setter for Kucherov, made it 3-1. Dylan Guenther pulled Utah within a goal on a power play with 2:21 left in the period.

Conor Geekie stretched the lead back to two about five and a half minutes into the second period. Utah then took over: Anders Lee scored when a Mackenzie Weegar shot deflected off Anthony Cirelli and Lee's stick with 5:21 left in the period, and Simashev beat Dennis Hildeby with a shot from the top of the faceoff circle with 2:28 left to tie it 4-4.

The goals in order:

Hildeby keeps it level, Simashev ends it

Neither team scored in the third period. Hildeby, starting in goal for Tampa Bay on the second night of a back-to-back, made nine saves in the period, including stops on a close-range chance by Barrett Hayton and a point-blank shot by Clayton Keller, according to the Lightning's team recap. Utah also had a Hayton goal disallowed for interference by Lee. Hildeby finished with 23 saves and was named the game's third star.

The Lightning also played the third period shorthanded up front after losing forward Zemgus Girgensons, finishing the game with 11 forwards.

Both teams had breakaway chances early in overtime before Simashev and Hayton broke out on a two-on-one. Hayton fed Simashev, who finished for the winner. Vejmelka picked up the secondary assist.

"I feel amazing," Simashev said afterward, adding that he had not expected to be on the ice in overtime. Utah coach André Tourigny said his team came alive once it scored: "When we scored that goal, we felt that we were alive."

Simashev, 21, was the sixth overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, selected by the Arizona Coyotes before the franchise relocated to Utah. He won the KHL's Gagarin Cup with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in 2025, signed his entry-level contract that spring and split last season between Utah and the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners, playing 28 NHL games without a goal. He had waited more than a full season of NHL games for his first goal, then scored twice in one night.

What it means for Tampa Bay

Saturday was the back half of a back-to-back that began with a loss at Colorado on Friday, a game in which Kucherov was held without a point and the Lightning missed a chance to tie the franchise record for wins through 10 games, and it closed a three-game road trip that started with the win in Vegas. Tampa Bay entered the night 7-3-0 and finished the trip 1-1-1. Still, blowing two separate two-goal leads against a Utah team that had also started 7-4-0 left a missed opportunity heading home.

For Lightning fans across Tampa Bay, the night will be remembered for the record. Kucherov, a multiple-time winner of the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's scoring champion, now sits alone atop a franchise list that Stamkos, the longtime captain who left for Nashville in 2024, had owned for more than four years.

What's next

The Lightning return to Amalie Arena to host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, Oct. 29, giving Tampa Bay fans their first chance to salute Kucherov's record in person. Utah hosts the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.