EDMONTON – Nikita Kucherov had two targets and two assists to maneuver two factors forward of Connor McDavid for the league scoring lead because the Tampa Bay Lightning received their third recreation in a row, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.
Anthony Cirelli had a pair of targets and Jake Guentzel additionally scored for the Lightning (43-21-4) who’ve received 4 of their final 5.
Connor McDavid and Josh Samanski replied for the Oilers (34-28-9) who’ve misplaced two straight and missed out on an excellent alternative to entrench themselves within the playoff race with most of their key rivals additionally dropping earlier within the day.
The Oilers remained with out star ahead Leon Draisaitl, out for the remainder of the common season with a lower-body harm.
Associated Movies
Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded 25 saves to earn the win within the Tampa web, whereas Connor Ingram made 22 stops for Edmonton.
Get breaking Nationwide information
Get breaking Canada information delivered to your inbox because it occurs so you will not miss a trending story.
TAKEAWAYS
Lightning: Kucherov has been nothing wanting stellar of late with 12 factors in his final three video games and 22 factors in his final eight contests. In 29 video games within the 2026 calendar 12 months, he has logged 67 factors, 20 greater than McDavid. Kucherov now has 37 factors in 20 video games towards Edmonton.
Oilers: McDavid stays simply shy of three milestones. He’s now one objective from 400 in his profession, one help from 800 and two factors wanting 1,200.
KEY MOMENT
The Lightning went up 3-1 with three minutes remaining within the second interval as Kucherov emerged from the penalty field on the finish of the primary half of an Edmonton five-on-three benefit and J.J. Moser sprung him on a short-handed breakaway which he transformed for his thirty ninth of the season and his first profession short-handed marker.
WEIRD ONE
Edmonton acquired a weird objective on a play the place they didn’t even shoot the puck with 12:44 to play within the third interval. The groups had been preventing for the puck alongside the sideboards when it was dug out by Tampa’s Oliver Bjorkstrand towards his personal web after which hit the stick of Emil Lilleberg and trickled previous Vasilevskiy. The objective was credited to rookie Samanski for his first profession NHL objective.
KEY STAT
Between them, the Lightning (3 times) and the Oilers (twice) have appeared in 5 of the final six Stanley Cup finals.
UP NEXT
Lightning: Go to the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
Oilers: Go to the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed March 21, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
