EDMONTON – Nikita Kucherov had two goals and two assists to move two points ahead of Connor McDavid for the league lead as the Tampa Bay Lightning won their third straight game, beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.
Anthony Cirelli had a pair of goals and Jake Guentzel also scored for the Lightning (43-21-4), who have won four of their last five.
Connor McDavid and Josh Samanski answered for the Oilers (34-28-9) who have lost two straight and squandered a glorious opportunity to get into the playoff race with most of their top rivals also losing earlier in the day.
The Oilers were without star forward Leon Draisaitl, out for the rest of the regular season with a lower-body injury.
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Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded 25 saves to earn the victory in net for Tampa, while Connor Ingram made 22 stops for Edmonton.
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TAKEAWAY
Lightning: Kucherov has been nothing short of stellar lately with 12 points in his last three games and 22 points in his last eight contests. In 29 games in the 2026 calendar year, he has scored 67 points, 20 more than McDavid. Kucherov now has 37 points in 20 games against Edmonton.
Oilers: McDavid remains just shy of three milestones. He is now one goal from 400 in his career, one assist from 800 and two points shy of 1,200.
THE KEY MOMENT
The Lightning went up 3-1 with three minutes left in the second period after Kucherov got off a penalty late in the first half of a five-on-three Edmonton advantage and JJ Moser drove him on a shorthanded layup, which he converted for his 39th of the season and first career shorthanded marker.
Strange
Edmonton scored an odd goal in a game where they didn’t even shoot the ball with 12:44 to play in the third period. The teams were battling for the puck along the boards when it was drilled by Tampa’s Oliver Bjorkstrand toward his own net and then bounced off the stick of Emil Lilleberg and past Vasilevskiy. The goal was credited to rookie Samanski for his first career NHL goal.
KEY STATUS
Between them, the Lightning (three times) and Oilers (twice) have appeared in five of the last six Stanley Cup Finals.
UP NEXT
Lightning: Visit the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
Oilers: Visit the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on March 21, 2026.
&copies 2026 The Canadian Press
