Point, Cirelli Lead Bolts to Win over Red Wings

7 hours ago

3 min read

By Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports

Brayden Point scored twice in the first period, and Anthony Cirelli scored the game-winner as the Tampa Bay Lightning improved to 7-0-0 at home, the best season-opening run in franchise history.

Nikita Kucherov added two more assists while goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves.

Point scored in front of the Detroit net on the power play at the 7:54 mark of the opening period when Kucherov fed him a pass from the right circle.

After a sluggish start to the power play earlier in the season, the Lightning have now scored on special teams in three of their last four games.

“It’s nice to see it go in. It gives you confidence. Kuch is finding me there with lots of time and space," Point said. "And I'm just trying to hit ‘em, and it's nice to see them go in.”

Point added to the Tampa Bay lead with a one-timer again assisted by Kucherov at the 13:01 mark.

"He's shooting the puck, and he is shooting the puck in the net," Lightning coach Jon Cooper Said. "He was shooting the puck before then. They just weren't going in, and now they are going in for him."

"Once that happens, your confidence starts building and, usually, good things happen after that."

Point now has four goals in his last four games.

Since his shocking announcement Saturday that he was not re-signing with the Bolts, Kucherov has assisted on five of Tampa Bay's eight goals, including four primary assists.

"We were hungry. We were ready for them. I thought that our transition game was excellent, our forecheck game was excellent, we were on top of them," Cooper said of the first-period team performance. "What did we get, two (goals)? And we had some excellent chances."

"So that's as good a first period as we've played in a while, and it turns out we needed every one of them to finish this one off."

Cirelli Grabs Game Winner

Cirelli scored the eventual game-winner when JJ Moser slipped but managed to get the puck to Gage Goncalves, who was low to the left of Detroit goalie Daniil Tarasov.

Goncalves passed to Cirelli in the slot, who lifted the puck up and in to make it 3-0.

Lucas Raymond got Detroit on the board at 10:53, beating Vasilevskiy glove-side.

JT Compher brought the Red Wings to within one at the 5:29 mark of the third period with a shot from the right circle that deflected off Vasilevskiy's glove and slipped through the five-hole.

Despite the comeback attempt, Bolts defenseman Ryan McDonagh iced the game with an empty-net goal from downrange behind the Lightning goal line as time expired.

Lightning Set New Home Win Record

The win was the seventh straight to start the 2026-27 season, a franchise-record streak.

"In a lot of these games, we've gotten the lead, and special teams, goaltending, or whatever has stepped up. You need a lot of things to go right for you to go on this little streak we have, and proud of it," Cooper said. "You should win most of your games, or you hope to win a lot more games at home than lose them."

The team credits the opening streak to doing the little things that keep things manageable.

"Just keeping it simple, winning our battles, playing a hard game," Moser said about why the Lightning remain unbeaten at Benmark International Arena. "I think sometimes we have the tendency to overcomplicate things and try to do too much, so just do that and be hard and play with pace. We all know that we have the talent to make the plays."

Although the Lightning have done well at home, they have struggled outside of Tampa. Tampa Bay is 2-3-2 on the road, something Cooper knows must improve.

"Now you've just got to find a way to make sure we claw our way back on the road and not be a .500 team on the road," Cooper said.

"But I'm proud of the guys for letting the fans walk out every single night in a good mood."

Thunderstruck Three Stars of the Game

Brayden Point, Tampa Bay. Scored twice and is picking up speed.
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay. Kucherov continues to shine, adding two more assists
JT Compher, Detroit. One goal and an assist.