Stamkos and Kucherov have 3 point nights as Lightning beat Ducks 5 1

Related video: Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy returned to the ice with his teammates for the first time since he had back surgery in late September. TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored a pair of power play goals during a 3:51 span in the second period and had an assist, NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had three assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Anaheim Ducks 5 1 on Saturday night.

Stamkos has 204 power play goals, which ties Wayne Gretzky for 17th place. The center has 533 goals overall and moved into tie for 35th place with Frank Mahovlich. He had just two goals in his previous 12 game after a four goal game at Edmonton last month. Kucherov became the 183rd player to reach 800 points and has 72 this season.

Victor Hedman, Calvin de Haan and Brandon Hagel also scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves as Tampa Bay won its third straight. Lukas Dostal stopped 36 shots and Frank Vatrano had a power play goal for the Ducks, who have lost nine of 11 (2 8 1). Goalie John Gibson, who left Thursday’s game at Carolina after two periods with an upper body injury, was the backup.

The game got chippy after Anaheim right wing Brett Leason was hurt on a hard check by Lightning defenseman Emil Martinsen Lilleberg six minutes into the second. Leason didn’t return due to an upper body injury. Six minutes later Hedman received two minor penalties and a 10 minute misconduct during a scrum.

Stamkos made it 2 0 at 10:56 into second. After Vatrano scored on the power play, Stamkos got the goal back when his pass went off Ducks defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin’s stick at 14:47. De Haan’s and Hagel’s goals came in the third period. Hedman scored on a second period power play. Ducks rookie center Leo Carlsson, taken second overall in the 2023 draft, participated in morning skate but missed his 10th consecutive game with a sprained right knee.

Anaheim left wing Alex Killorn, a two time Stanley Cup winner with the Lightning, was honored with a video tribute and received a loud ovation in his first game back in Tampa. The Lightning will host Minnesota on Thursday night..