Kucherov danced his way to the right faceoff dot, pulling a Detroit defender toward him before cutting back to the right center hashmark. Kucherov shelved his shot into the top right corner of the Detroit net for his 21 st goal of the season.

Notches apple Saturday

Here are three reasons to like the Lightning’s new-look power play. Thursday’s moves were transformative, because the personnel and positional changes made it difficult to tell which was the top unit and which was the second. Point men Victor Hedman and Darren Raddysh switched units, with Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel matched with Raddysh.

Anaheim opened the scoring 6:03 into the game on a redirection by forward Troy Terry, but the Lightning tied the score eight minutes later on the power play. Hedman got the puck at the left point and fed forward Brandon Hagel in the right corner, where the latter passed the puck to Anthony Cirelli at the back post for a tap-in and a tie game.

While the Tampa Bay Lightning continue to move up the Eastern Conference standings, their captain Victor Hedman keeps checking off milestones. The Lightning and their hulking defenseman will finish a two-game homestand Saturday night against the sizzling Detroit Red Wings in the opener of four matchups between the Atlantic Division foes.

Puts up helper Sunday

According to NHL Stats, the Maple Leafs scored seven unanswered goals for the first time since Dec. 16, 2023 in a 7-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. They had scored seven or more unanswered goals three times previously in their long rivalry with the Canadiens, but not since 1942.

The Kraken have scored at least four goals in three of their past five games while the Lightning's Darren Raddysh and the Penguins' Matt Grzelcyk see fantasy value boosts with increased power play roles.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are set to go on a four-game road trip facing four of the NHL’s Original Six franchises. The trip starts on Monday, Jan. 20, against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

NHLs team must make adjustments, some more extreme than others. The difference between years of winning and losing may come down to branding.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid could not contain his excitement after Patrick Mahomes' 'unreal' fourth-quarter touchdown pass.