Nikita Kucherov Scores Twice as Lightning Rally From Two Goals Down to Beat Canucks 4-2

Nikita Kucherov scored twice in the second period to erase a two-goal deficit, Jake Guentzel put Tampa Bay ahead early in the third, and the Lightning beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Saturday afternoon at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa. The win kept the Lightning perfect at home at 5-0-0 and pushed them to 6-2-0 overall, while sending Vancouver home without a win on its road trip.

Dennis Hildeby made 12 saves in his second start of the season, and the Lightning dominated play for long stretches, outshooting Vancouver 35-14 and winning 62.3 percent of the faceoffs. Pontus Holmberg added an insurance goal late in the third period before a crowd of 19,092 at the arena formerly known as Amalie Arena.

Vancouver jumps out early

For most of the first 26 minutes, the afternoon belonged to the visitors. Linus Karlsson opened the scoring at 15:32 of the first period with a slap shot from the right point, assisted by Paul Cotter and Filip Chytil. Elias Pettersson doubled the lead on the power play at 4:35 of the second period, finishing a play set up by Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Brock Boeser.

That power-play goal was the 65th of Pettersson's career, tying Greg Adams for 10th in Canucks history, according to NHL.com.

Kucherov answers twice

Tampa Bay's comeback started on its only power play of the game. At 6:30 of the second, Kucherov scored off his own rebound, with Brandon Hagel and Guentzel assisting, to cut the deficit to 2-1. Less than five minutes later, at 11:23, Brayden Point won a faceoff back to Kucherov, who snapped a quick shot past Vancouver goaltender Kevin Lankinen to tie the game.

The two goals, 4:53 apart, gave Kucherov three on the season and 1,134 career points, tying Marian Hossa for 65th place in NHL history, NHL.com reported. Kucherov had a team-high seven shots on goal. Afterward he credited the team for sticking to the system and getting pucks to the net, and Cooper noted simply that the puck went in for his star winger on this day.

Special teams were close to even. Tampa Bay converted its lone power play, while Vancouver went 1-for-2, and the Lightning blocked 21 shots to the Canucks' 16 as Vancouver tried to protect its lead through the middle of the game.

Guentzel's winner and Holmberg's insurance

The go-ahead goal came quickly in the third. Defenseman Charle-Edouard D'Astous slid a pass off the wall to Guentzel, whose quick shot at 2:04 deflected off the stick of Vancouver's Liam Ohgren and in for a 3-2 lead. It was Guentzel's fourth goal of the season, and Point picked up his second assist of the day on the play.

Holmberg closed it out at 15:57, collecting a loose puck off a faceoff and beating Lankinen through the pads for his second goal of the season. Lankinen, starting with Thatcher Demko on injured reserve, finished with 31 saves on 35 shots.

The scoring sequence:

Hildeby gives Vasilevskiy a breather

Andrei Vasilevskiy had started six of Tampa Bay's first seven games, including Thursday's 4-3 home win over the Seattle Kraken. Coach Jon Cooper turned to Hildeby for the Saturday afternoon game, and the Swedish goaltender did not face much: Vancouver managed only 14 shots, and he stopped 12 of them.

Hildeby, acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in an offseason trade that sent Nick Paul to Toronto, won his Lightning debut on Oct. 8 against the Minnesota Wild, stopping 34 of 36 shots in a 3-2 win. At the time Cooper said he wanted to give Vasilevskiy more time off during the season when he could. Hildeby is now 2-0 as a Lightning starter, both wins coming in Tampa.

A familiar collapse for Vancouver

For the second straight game, the Canucks let a 2-0 lead slip away. On Thursday they led the Florida Panthers 2-0 in Sunrise before Brady Tkachuk scored three times, the last in overtime, in a 3-2 Florida win. Saturday's loss in Tampa completed a Florida swing that cost Vancouver all four possible points.

Vancouver finished its road trip 0-4-1, according to the Associated Press, and has gone 0-6-1 over its last seven games. At 2-7-1, the Canucks have five points and sit sixth in the Pacific Division. Karlsson said afterward that his team needed 60 good minutes next game, and coach Manny Malhotra pointed to the details around the Canucks' own net, including faceoffs and getting in shooting lanes.

D'Astous, asked about the turnaround, offered a blunt assessment, saying, "I think the best team won tonight."

Where the Lightning stand

The Lightning opened the season with a 5-1 loss at the New York Rangers, then reeled off three straight home wins over Washington, Philadelphia and Minnesota. They split a two-game New York trip, beating the Islanders 5-3 before losing to the Rangers 4-1, and have now won two in a row at home.

With 12 points from eight games, Tampa Bay is second in the Atlantic Division, two points behind the Boston Bruins and level on points with the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators, both of whom have played nine games. The in-state rival Panthers routed Seattle 8-3 later Saturday.

Hagel, who had an assist on Kucherov's first goal, has points in six of his last seven games, with six goals and five assists in that span, according to NHL.com. Forward Yanni Gourde remains on injured reserve with a hip injury, according to ESPN's injury report.

What's next

The Lightning head west for a three-game road trip before returning to Tampa at the end of the month.

Vegas, which beat Pittsburgh 6-2 on Saturday, leads the Pacific Division at 8-2-0. Vancouver hosts the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.