The Backcheck: Lightning return to play with back-to-back split

The Tampa Bay Lightning returned from the 2026 Winter Olympic break with a back-to-back split.

Tampa Bay beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Wednesday before taking a 5-4 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.

Tampa Bay is now 38-15-4 this season and closes the February schedule on Saturday by hosting the Buffalo Sabres at 7:30 p.m.

Bolts pick up where they left off with Wednesday win

The Lightning expected some rust on Wednesday in their first game back from the Olympic break, and it was evident over the opening 20 minutes.

In the end, though, Tampa Bay returned to game action much like they entered the break—in winning fashion with a 4-2 victory over Atlantic Division opponent Toronto to extend their win streak to six games.

"I actually thought the first period, our execution wasn't great. I thought we fumbled a few pucks, gave them some opportunities. Vasy made some key saves early in the first period, and then I thought we started to find our game in the second and third period,” assistant coach Rob Zettler said. “We controlled most of the play in the second period, played a lot in their end. (William) Nylander got behind us a couple times, but other than that I thought we were starting to be pretty good, starting to move the puck around a little bit, and started to control the play."

Tampa Bay thought they had two separate 1-0 leads in the first period, but both goals were taken off the scoreboard after successful coach’s challenges by Toronto that showed the plays were offside.

The Lightning made up for it in the second period.

Forward Brayden Point scored in his return to the lineup, accepting a pass at the right hashmark and out-waiting Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz to bury the 1-0 goal on a shot near the right post 7:07 into the second period.

Point’s goal came in his return from an 11-game absence due to a lower-body injury. He finished the night with two goals and an assist to co-lead the Bolts on offense.

“I thought there was good and then there was obviously some stuff we want to clean up,” he said of the game. “I think both sides would say that. A few too many high-risk plays and turnovers, but a lot of the game I thought we played pretty good.”

Point felt good about his return.

“I think once the puck drops you're into it and not thinking too much about it,” he said of returning from injury. “I felt good tonight, and it was fun. I had fun out there.”

The Lightning needed only 51 seconds to build on their lead, as forward Gage Goncalves accepted a pass from Nikita Kucherov in the neutral zone to earn a breakaway before dancing around Stolarz and tucking home his seventh goal of the year on the forehand.

Goncalves finished with a goal and two assists for a career-high three-point performance. He played much of the night on a line with Kucherov and Point, and all three players finished with three points.

“We had a conversation on the bench and then in between periods that we thought Gonzo has been playing really well, and he's played really well with that line in the past, so we thought we'd give that a shot,” Zettler said. “And he (Goncalves) responded. I thought he played really well tonight. And then (Brandon Hagel) has always been a fit with (Jake Guentzel), they play well together. So that gave us three solid lines that you can play against anybody.”

Kucherov’s assist on the 2-0 goal was the 700th of his NHL career. He became the ninth-fastest player in NHL history to reach the mark by doing so in his 855th game, and he joined active NHLers Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin as the only Russian-born players to collect 700 assists.

Kucherov made it 3-0 with his 30th goal of the season in the third period, ripping a one-timer from the right circle after a touch pass from Goncalves. Toronto got on the board thanks to a power-play goal from John Tavares with 3:41 left in the game, and Point’s second goal of the night 11 seconds later offset a late tally from Matthew Knies for the 4-2 final score.

Defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous also posted a multi-point performance with two assists in his return to the lineup from a five-game absence due to injury.

“Obviously it's nice to be back, be playing with the guys again and being part of the success,” D’Astous said postgame. “I think we have such a good group of guys, and we're doing really good on the ice. So being back at it, it's really good.”

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made numerous stops on Toronto rush chances, including multiple breakaway stops on Nylander. He finished with 32 saves on 34 shots and is now 17-0-1 in his last 18 games since Dec. 20 while leading the NHL in wins this season.

Tampa Bay’s win improved them to 20-1-1 over their last 22 games, and that’s no coincidence if you ask the players in the room.

"I think everyone's on the same page,” D’Astous said. “Everyone’s working toward one goal, and it's to win. I think we're playing really good in our zone and when we have a little breach, Vasy's there to save us, or JoJo (Jonas Johansson) too. I think everyone is stepping up when we have injuries and everyone's coming in to play big roles. I think overall everyone is buying in where we have that same goal in mind."

Tampa Bay had added motivation on Thursday—they played the back-to-back without head coach Jon Cooper, who was on personal leave following his father’s passing.

The team played for their coach.

“Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with him,” Point said. “Really tough time for him, and this was a big one for us. We really wanted to get this for him, absolutely.”

Zettler saw it, too, saying Cooper was in the back of their minds all game.

“Anytime a guy is missing for personal reasons, the best thing you can do for Coop is play your heart out,” the coach said. “And I think the guys did that tonight.”

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

1. Brayden Point, TBL (2 goals, assist)
2. Gage Goncalves (Goal, 2 assists)
3. Nikita Kucherov  (Goal, 2 assists)

Lightning battle back in Carolina but fall 5-4

The Tampa Bay Lightning overcame a 3-0 first period deficit on Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Lenovo Center, but a late Sebastian Aho power-play goal prevented the comeback victory as the Lightning fell 5-4.

The Lightning fought back to tie the game twice on Thursday but saw their six-game win streak end in Raleigh in a battle between the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

“We spent a lot of energy trying to come back from 3-0. You give up three goals in the first 10 minutes, it’s never a good recipe,” Zettler said. “But I will say, the boys battled back. We started to clean it up the second half of the first period, and then the second period we were fine. At the end we needed a kill to keep it alive to see if we could get some points out of a back to back game, and we just didn’t get the job done there.”

Forward Nikolaj Ehlers grabbed an early lead for the home team with his shot from the right faceoff dot that found the bottom left corner of the Lightning net. 

The Hurricanes then doubled the advantage 2:56 into the game, this goal coming on a rush chance for Logan Stankoven at the net following a neutral zone turnover. Taylor Hall made it a 3-0 game before the seventh minute, scoring on a 2-on-1 chance before Tampa Bay punched back.

“They were ready from the start,” Lightning forward Dominic James said. “As you could see they got up three quick, so we have to have a better start if we want to win a game.”

Tampa Bay scored twice in 35 seconds to get back into the game—Hagel started it for the visitors when he fired home a shot from the left circle after Scott Sabourin dished him a pass from below the goal line. Thirty-five seconds later, Kucherov outwaited Carolina goalie Brandon Bussi with a shot in the right circle to pull his team within a goal of the Hurricanes.

James then tied the score 1:58 into the second period, bursting through the Hurricanes defensemen and scoring with a near-side shot at the left hashmark.

After Carolina retook the lead on a Seth Jarvis goal in the slot later in the middle frame, the Lightning got a power-play goal from Point to once again even the score, this time at 4-4.

Point fired a one-timer just six seconds into the Lightning power play in the high slot off a pass from Guentzel, whose three assists in the game paced all players on offense.

Aho’s game-winning goal came on a shot from atop the zone, a puck that went in off the crossbar 7:17 into the third period after getting through a crowd of bodies in front of the net. Tampa Bay pushed with their net empty at 6-on-5, but the tying goal never came.

“The way we react to a situation like this, I think it’s a very positive sign that even if you don’t do the right things early on that you can come back even if it’s 3-0,” JJ Moser said postgame. "I think that’s the good thing that we can take from today.”

Point finished with a goal and assist for Tampa Bay in a game that four different Hurricanes finished with two points.

Tampa Bay will aim for a cleaner effort on Saturday against the Sabres.

“It was a back to back, just get some rest and clean a couple things up,” Moser said. “I think already yesterday we gave up way too many odd-man rushes, 2-on-1s. I think that’s what we have to clean up and then be ready for Buffalo.”

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

1. Sebastian Aho, CAR (Game-winning goal)
2. Jake Guentzel, TBL (3 assists
3. Seth Jarvis, CAR (Goal, assist)