BUFFALO, N.Y. — Nikita Kucherov scored the 400th goal of his career Monday night in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at the KeyBank Center.
Kucherov, 32, netted a power-play goal in the first period, off assists from Jake Guentzel and Darren Raddysh. It was his 43rd goal of the season, and he now has 126 points, which tied him for the NHL lead with Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid.
Kucherov became the NHL’s eighth Russian-born and second Lightning player to score 400 goals. Former Tampa Bay forward Steven Stamkos scored his 400th on Nov. 15, 2019.
But the rest of the night belonged to the home team. Jason Zucker tipped in Bowen Byram’s shot for the go-ahead goal 7:38 into the second period, and the Sabres tightened the race for the Atlantic Division title.
Jack Quinn, with an assist from goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, sealed the win by scoring into an empty net with 1:54 left. Josh Norris and Alex Tuch also scored. Buffalo snapped a minor 2-3-2 slump to tie the Lightning atop the division with 102 points, and two ahead of idle Montreal entering the final 10 days of the season.
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Luukkonen stopped 23 shots to improve to 10-2-1 in his past 14 appearances and strengthen his hold on the starting job.
Jake Guentzel added a goal and assist for the Lightning, who lost in regulation for only the third time in 14 games (9-3-2). Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves in falling to 7-2-1 in his past 10 outings.
The Sabres never trailed and were greeted by a standing ovation upon returning home since clinching their first playoff berth in 15 seasons Saturday.
“I thought our whole team played really well. We just wanted to come out with a lot of energy and a lot of emotion,” Tuch said on the team’s postgame show on MSG Network. “The fans helped us to get into it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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