The Tampa Bay Lightning kept their red-hot run alive Thursday night, picking up their 16th win in their last 18 games with a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Benchmark International Arena. But for a few tense moments in the first period, the game was overshadowed by a potential nightmare scenario - Nikita Kucherov, the team's offensive engine and one of the league’s top scorers, went down hard after a collision that left the crowd holding its breath.
The incident happened early in the first period, and it didn’t look good. Kucherov, skating through the offensive zone and looking left, never saw 6-foot-7 Jets defenseman Logan Stanley coming.
The two collided, and Kucherov took the full impact on his right side. He hit the ice, stayed down for a moment, then got up gingerly, clearly in discomfort.
Clutching his right arm, he skated off under his own power and headed straight down the tunnel. Given his importance - he entered the game third in the NHL with 80 points, trailing only Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon - the potential for a long-term injury would’ve been a massive blow.
But in true Kucherov fashion, he returned to start the second period and didn’t just shake it off - he made his presence felt. He set up the Lightning’s third goal of the night with a slick fake-slap shot from the right circle, freezing the defense before feeding Yanni Gourde in front for a redirection past Connor Hellebuyck.
Then, just to cap it off, he sealed the win with an empty-net goal late in the third. Crisis averted - and Kucherov somehow still managed to put up a multi-point night.
While Kucherov’s return was the emotional turning point, the game belonged to Darren Raddysh. The Lightning defenseman continued his breakout campaign with a goal and two assists, pushing his total to 44 points and a plus-21 rating over his last 35 games. That’s elite-level production from the blue line, and with 15 goals on the season, he’s now tied with Cale Makar for third among all NHL defensemen in goals - not bad company to keep.
Raddysh got things going late in the first period. After taking a stretch pass from J.J.
Moser along the left wall, he fed Dominic James in stride for a clean rush into the offensive zone. James did the rest, snapping a wrister past Hellebuyck from the left hash marks to open the scoring.
Then, just 1:37 into the second period, Raddysh showed off his own scoring touch. With traffic in front, he unleashed a 98.9 mph slap shot from the point that beat Hellebuyck clean - off the top of the pad and into the net - to make it 2-0. Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor briefly made it interesting, cutting the lead to 2-1 midway through the second, but Kucherov’s setup to Gourde restored the two-goal cushion before the period was out.
Thursday also marked a welcome sight on the blue line: Ryan McDonagh returned to the lineup after missing 33 of the last 36 games due to a leg injury. The veteran defenseman brings a steadying presence and playoff-tested leadership, and his return only strengthens a Lightning team that’s already rolling.
Between the pipes, Andrei Vasilevskiy looked locked in once again. He stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced, controlling rebounds and keeping Winnipeg from generating any real momentum after their lone goal.
It was a night that could’ve taken a very different turn, but instead, it reinforced what’s made the Lightning so dangerous lately: resilience, depth, and star power. With Kucherov back on the ice, Raddysh emerging as a legitimate force, and Vasilevskiy doing what he does best, Tampa Bay continues to look like a team no one wants to face right now.