Canucks lose rough one to Lightning

VANCOUVER — Nikita Kucherov scored and added an assist to earn his 50th point of the season in leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

A feisty Canucks squad kept pace with the Lightning in a heated game marked with a flurry of fights, but they couldn’t over power the NHL’s No. 1 team.

Tampa Bay has not lost in regulation since Nov. 27.

Cedric Paquette, Adam Erne, Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat also scored for the Lightning (26-7-2).

Tyler Motte and Chris Tanev put up goals for the Canucks (16-17-4).

Anders Nilsson stopped 34-of-38 shots for Vancouver, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves for Tampa.

Kucherov opened the scoring 8:40 into the game, getting the puck off the faceoff and firing a shot past Nilsson.

Frustrated Canucks defenceman Erik Gudbranson broke his stick on the net as Tampa Bay celebrated.

Lightning centre Brayden Point registered an assist on the play, marking his 150th point in the NHL.

The Canucks responded to Kucherov’s goal less than a minute later.

Defenceman Troy Stecher found Motte in front of the net and Motte tipped the puck in past Vasilevskiy to tie up the score.

The Lightning went up again before the end of the first period, thanks to a move by Danick Martel, who was playing just his second game of the season. The left-winger got a blind pass off to Paquette, who popped the puck over Nilsson’s pad.

Midway through the second frame, the Lightning struck again when Erne deflected in what stood as the winner, putting the Lightning up 3-1.