After struggling to find the back of the net in Vegas Sunday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning came out with an offensive onslaught tonight. Anthony Cirelli marked his 500th career game by scoring twice in the first period. Nikita Kucherov tallied three points to pass the 100-point mark for the third consecutive year. The Bolts scored four goals in the first period to chase goaltender Tristan Jarry from the net and they never looked back. They snapped their two-game losing streak and remain two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division race.
Let The Offensive Onslaught Begin
The first ten minutes of this game seemed calm enough. The calm before the storm. At 12:13, the offensive onslaught began. Anthony Cirelli, in his 500th career NHL game, notched his 25th goal of the season to open the scoring.
“IN HIS 500TH GAME!!! ANTHONY CIRELLI SCORES!!!”
Tony gets us started in the first!#PITvsTBL
🎧: https://t.co/S6Y9TymMk9
📻: @1025TheBone pic.twitter.com/FHLyoM6N6P— Lightning Audio Network (@BoltsRadio) March 25, 2025
One minute seventeen seconds later, the Lightning struck again. This time, it was a shot from Ryan McDonagh (playing in career game number 999). The shot hit the side of Penguin Rickard Rakell’s skate and ricocheted into the net. Nikita Kucherov got the first assist on the play to bring his point total for the season up to 99.
Just another minute and 42 seconds later, the onslaught continued as Anthony Cirelli scored his second of the night and 26th of the season. Lightning led 3-0.
But they were not done yet. Forty-eight seconds later, Brayden Point tallied his 35th of the season. Kucherov notched his second assist of the game on that goal taking him to the 100-point mark for the third consecutive season.
“Rebound, SCORREEE!!! BRAYDEN POINT!”
How about a four goal first period for the Bolts?!?! 🤯#PITvsTBL
🎧: https://t.co/S6Y9TymMk9
📻: @1025TheBone pic.twitter.com/3vDDEe8Rqy— Lightning Audio Network (@BoltsRadio) March 25, 2025
The Bolts led 4-0 at the 16-minute mark and that marked the end of the night for Pittsburgh netminder Tristan Jarry.
Offensive Onslaught Continues
Alex Nedeljkovic replaced Tristan Jarry in the Penguin net and did fare better. It took until 15:31 of the second period for the Lightning to break through on him. The Amalie faithful had a scary moment when Ryan Graves slammed Nikita Kucherov into the posts. Kucherov was slow to get up and then went straight down the tunnel. Graves took a penalty on the play and the Bolts went to the power play. For most of that power play, the Lightning did not have their power play quarterback Nikita Kucherov. Towards the end of the two minutes, Kucherov came back out onto the ice. He made the most of his time back on the ice as he blasted a shot past Nedeljkovic to put his team up 5-0.
“KUCHEROV RETURNS and scores the power play goal!!!”
Kuch snipes it for his 101st point of the season!#PITvsTBL
🎧: https://t.co/S6Y9TymMk9
📻: @1025TheBone pic.twitter.com/xdnm2QwKKB— Lightning Audio Network (@BoltsRadio) March 26, 2025
As the second period was coming to a close, the Lightning notched one more goal. In that final moment, Brandon Hagel added his name to the list of goal scorers for the night as he tipped the puck past Nedeljkovic for his 33rd of the season.
Shutting it Down in the Third
The Lightning were comfortably ahead going into the final twenty minutes. They did not need any additional offensive onslaught. The Bolts held down the fort well. They did give up eight shots on net (equaling the total they’d given up the previous two periods combined) and Bryan Rust thwarted Andrei Vasilevskiy’s shutout bid with 5:45 remaining in regulation. But that was all she wrote. Bolts closed it out for a dominant 6-1 victory. They sweep the season series from the Pittsburgh Penguins and move up to 87 total points this season and stay within two points of both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers.
Three Stars
1- Nikita Kucherov– 1 goal, 2 assists, passed the 100-point mark for the third straight season
2- Anthony Cirelli– 2 goals in his 500th career game
3- Ryan McDonagh– 1 goal, 1 assist, solid defense all night
Up Next
The Bolts will look to rebound against the Utah Hockey Club after last week’s embarrassing loss in Utah. Mikhail Sergachev makes his return to Amalie Arena with his new team Thursday night at 7pm.
