Kucherov scores in OT, Lightning rally late to defeat Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Nikita Kucherov scored on the power play at 3:23 of overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied for a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild at Grand Casino Arena on Saturday.

Kucherov, who also had an assist, won it on a wrist shot from the slot, beating Calvin Pickard glove side.

“There’s a lot of wins in different ways during the year, but this was a bit more of a character win for us,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “We had that terrible first two minutes, now we’re down 2-0, on just mental mistakes. I was a little frustrated with that. But I thought the next 58, we gamed it out.

“We saved the goals for late, but I thought the way we played before that, I mean, we were bound to score. I just liked the fact that the guys kept believing.”

Kucherov’s goal came after Charle-Edouard D'Astous tied it 3-3 at 16:29 of the third period with a 6-on-4 goal on the power play with goaltender Dennis Hildeby pulled for the extra attacker. The Lightning took a timeout eight seconds earlier, with the offensive-zone face-off upcoming.

“Just keep pushing, even though they scored the third goal,” D’Astous said of the message during the timeout. “I think we were the best team on the ice. We just keep playing our way.”

Jake Guentzel had two goals and an assist, and D’Astous also had two assists for the Lightning (11-3-2), who won their third game in a row and extended their point streak to six games (4-0-2). Brayden Point had two assists to surpass 700 points in the NHL, and Hildeby made 19 saves.

Maxim Shabanov scored twice, and Blake Coleman also scored for the Wild (12-3-4), who had won three in a row but extended their point streak to eight games (6-0-2). Pickard made 30 saves.

Minnesota was coming off a 4-1 win against the San Jose Sharks on Friday.

“I thought the effort was great,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “It was a highly contested battle. Kind of a heavyweight fight tonight. I think two teams have played really hard. I liked our compete level and how we worked and things like that. Back-to-back nights and two real quality competitive efforts for us.”

Coleman gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead just 55 seconds into the game. He skated into the zone and fired a wrist shot, tucking the puck into the corner of the far post.

“It was a good start catching those couple early,” Coleman said. “They’re a good team, and we’d have to push.”

Shabanov’s power-play goal extended it to 2-0 at 2:58 on a backhand shot in front.

Both Cooper and Guentzel mentioned the Lightning’s forward line of Jeffrey Viel, Conor Geekie and Scott Sabourin as the spark that changed the game. Sabourin had a game-high five hits and was involved in a fight with Wild forward Marcus Foligno midway through the first period. Viel added four hits of his own.

“When they started going in that first period, I think our team kind of jumped onboard,” Cooper said. “I’ve got to give those guys a ton of credit.”

Guentzel cut it to 2-1 at 16:34 of the second period, knocking a slap shot under Pickard’s glove with 22 seconds remaining on a four-minute man-advantage.

“It’s not the way we want to start, but stayed with it,” Guentzel said of falling behind 2-0 early. “Can’t get too down. A lot of hockey left. So, I thought we pushed back. It’s obviously nice to get the win.”

Shabanov scored again to make it 3-1 at 6:49 of the third period. He went up the ice, skated past the defense and buried a wrist shot five-hole.

“He's got great instincts,” Hynes said. “He can shoot the puck, and he's got really good poise. I like his demeanor. He's a focused kid. He's got good poise with the puck. He clearly understands how we want to play and the things we want to do. He's got good details. So, it's nice to see him progress the way he has progressed.”

Guentzel’s second goal of the game cut it to 3-2 at 13:44 after tipping Point’s shot in front.

“It’s a good team over there,” Guentzel said. “They don’t give up too much. Whenever you can come on the road and get a win, it’s huge.”

NOTES: Kucherov tied Martin St. Louis for the third-most overtime goals in Lightning history with 10, behind Steven Stamkos (13) and Brayden Point (12). … The win for Tampa Bay was its first third-period, multigoal comeback victory since Nov. 19, 2024, a 3-2 overtime win at the Pittsburgh Penguins. … With two assists tonight, Point tied St. Louis as the third-fastest Lightning player to reach 700 career points. … Kirill Kaprizov (five goals, nine assists), Quinn Hughes (four goals, nine assists) and Joel Eriksson Ek (four goals, six assists) all extended their point streaks to eight games for the Wild. … Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek each tied Marco Rossi (seven games in 2025-26) for the second longest season-opening home point streak in Wild history. Mats Zuccarello tops the list with an 11-game run in 2023-24.