Kucherov has 2 assists as Lightning beat Blues 3-1

[December 20, 2024]  By ERIK ERLENDSSON

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov had a pair of assists to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-1 victory against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.

Anthony Cirelli, Gage Goncalves and Nick Perbix scored for the Lightning, who have won six of their last seven. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 31 saves in the win. 

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Nick Perbix (48) celebrates his goal against the St. Louis Blues with right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Pavel Buchnevich scored for St. Louis. Jordan Binnington allowed three goals on 11 shots before being replaced by Joel Hofer, who stopped all seven shots he faced.

Cirelli scored his 13th of the season 5:14 into the first period before Perbix made it 2-0 3:42 into the second period. Buchnevich cut the deficit in half at with 7:45 left in the second, but Goncalves responded with his first career goal just over a minute later.

Takeaways
Blues: St. Louis lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time since Jim Montgomery took over as head coach on Nov. 25.

Lightning: Left wing Jake Guentzel saw his seven-game goal-scoring streak come to an end.

Key moment
After Buchnevich cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 2-1, Goncalves, a rookie, scored his first NHL goal 1:18 later to regain a two-goal lead. Goncalves' goal was the last stz

Key stat
Kucherov has 13 assists during a six-game scoring streak.

Up next
The Blues head south to face the Florida Panthers on Friday while the Lightning host the Panthers on Sunday.

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