In Tampa, the Lightning struck for four straight goals after a scoreless opening frame on Thursday night, and defeated the Calgary Flames, 4-1.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves in the Tampa win.
Nikita Kucherov returned to the Lightning bench and picked up two assists in the victory.
“For him to miss as much time and come in to play a big, fast team like we just did and do the things that he did … he’s elite,” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper said. “But he’ll be the first to tell you that he’s got more in the tank.”
The Lightning improved to 23-8-5.
Dillon Dube was the lone goal scorer for the Flames, his strike came late in the third period after the Bolts had taken the 4-0 lead.
The Flames dropped to 17-9-6.
Corey Perry opened the scoring in the second period to give Tampa a 1-0 lead.
“It was nice to be back, that’s for sure,” Kucherov said. “It’s never easy [coming back from injury], it’s getting tougher and tougher.”
It stayed that way until the third when the Lightning added strikes from Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat, and Alex Killorn.
“[Kucherov] made some plays out there … that second goal to set up ‘Pointer’ … that’s elite,” Cooper said. “He’s probably only going to get better here when he gets his legs under him.”
Dan Vladar made 29 saves in the Calgary loss.
“It’s a one-goal game (entering the third),” Calgary head coach Darryl Sutter said, “but at the same time, you’ve got to finish your opportunities that you do get against these top teams. There’s a difference between them and us, that’s for sure.”
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