EDMONTON – Nikita Kucherov had two goals and two assists to move within two points of Connor McDavid for the league scoring lead as the Tampa Bay Lightning won their third straight game, beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.
Anthony Cirelli scored a pair of goals and Jake Guentzel also scored for the Lightning (43-21-4) who have won four of their last five games.
Connor McDavid and Josh Samanski countered the Oilers (34-28-9) who have lost two straight and missed a great opportunity to secure themselves in the playoff race with most of their top rivals also losing earlier in the day.
The Oilers remain without star forward Leon Draisaitl, sidelined for the remainder of the regular season with a lower-body injury.
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Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded 25 saves in goal for Tampa, while Connor Ingram made 22 saves for Edmonton.
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TAKEAWAY
Lightning: Kucherov has been outstanding of late with 12 points in his last three games and 22 points in his last eight games. 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 is still three milestones away. He is now one goal shy of 400 in his career, one assist shy of 800, and two points shy of 1,200.
IMPORTANT MOMENT
The Lightning were up 3-1 with three minutes left in the second half when Kucherov came out of the box late in the first half from Edmonton’s five-on-three lead and JJ Moser fed him a short pass that he converted for his 39th goal of the season and his first short-handed marker of his career.
THAT’S WEIRD
Edmonton got a strange goal in a game where they didn’t even score with 12:44 left in the third period. The two teams were scrambling for the puck along the sideboard when it was dug by Tampa’s Oliver Bjorkstrand toward his own net and then off Emil Lilleberg’s stick 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.
NEXT
Lightning: Visit the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
Oilers: Visit the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2026.
© 2026 Canadian Press
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