When he is on his game, there is no player in the league better than Nikita Kucherov. On Saturday night he had one of those games. The all-world forward posted three assists and added an empty-net goal to lead the Lightning to a 5-3 win over a Buffalo Sabres team that hung with them every step of the way.
Nick Paul, Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel, and Nick Perbix scored for the Lightning while Brian Elliott made 21 saves on 24 shots. Zemgus Girgensons, Casey Mittelstadt, and Jeff Skinner were the goalscorers for Buffalo while Eric Comrie stopped 25 of 29, including three sensational saves against Kucherov.