The Tampa Bay Lightning (61-16-4) knocked off the Toronto Maple Leafs (46-28-7) 3-1 on Thursday night in Canada. The Lightning now have the second most wins in the history of the NHL, behind only the 1995-1996 Detroit Red Wings, who finished with 62 wins.
The Leafs struck first in this one, when Mitchell Marner scored 4:41 into the first period. It took the Lightning almost 20 minutes to answer, but they were able to do so when Steven Stamkos scored a shorthanded goal at the 5:37 mark of the second period to tie the contest 1-1. In the third period, Alex Killorn drove in what would prove to be the game winner at the 14:12 mark - then Nikita Kucherov iced it with an empty-net goal with fifty-five seconds to go.
For Kucherov, it was his 40th goal of the season - he joins Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point with 40 goals during this remarkable run for Tampa Bay. It is the first time three teammates have had 40 goals in one season since the 1995-1996 Penguins had three players reach the mark.
Andrei Vasilevskiy got the start in net for Tampa Bay and converted 29 saves in 30 opportunities to pick up the win - Frederick Anderson went 26-for-28 in net for the Maple Leafs. The Lightning now wrap up the regular season on Saturday afternoon against the Boston Bruins - Tampa Bay has the chance to tie the league's all-time record with wins in a regular season. Puck drop from Boston is scheduled for 1 PM - pregame coverage begins at 12:30 PM on News Radio WFLA.