Lightning star Nikita Kucherov hits major milestone with goal vs. Sabres

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov reached a career landmark in the team’s 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night at the KeyBank Center.

On a first-period power play, Kucherov struck for his 43rd goal of the season, making it the 400th goal of his NHL career. The tally came with assists from Jake Guentzel and Darren Raddysh, and made Kucherov the eighth Russian-born player in league history to reach the feat. He also became just the second player in Lightning history to do so, joining Steven Stamkos, who achieved the milestone in November 2019 and remains the franchise leader with 555 goals.

The 32-year-old’s goal also brought him to 126 points on the season, tying him with Connor McDavid for the NHL scoring lead. Kucherov’s production continues to stand out, as he now has five seasons with at least 110 points and is pursuing what could be his fourth Art Ross Trophy, awarded to the league’s top scorer.

Besides the milestone, Buffalo controlled the game. Jason Zucker scored the go-ahead goal 7:38 into the second period by tipping in a Bowen Byram shot. Josh Norris and Alex Tuch also found the net, while Jack Quinn finished the game with an empty-net goal assisted by goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with 1:54 remaining.

Luukkonen made 23 saves and improved to 10-2-1 over his last 14 appearances. On the other end, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots, falling to 7-2-1 in his past 10 games.

Jake Guentzel contributed a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay, which dropped just its third regulation game in the last 14 contests (9-3-2). The result leaves both teams tied atop the Atlantic Division with 102 points, intensifying the race with less than 10 days remaining in the regular season.

Up next, the Lightning will travel to Ottawa to face the Senators on Tuesday.

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