After a night where offense was hard to come by for both teams, the Tampa Bay Lightning scored three times in the last 3:19 of the third-period to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 victory. Anthony Cirelli tied it at the 16:41 mark and Gage Goncalves put the Bolts in the lead less than two minutes later as the Lightning run their winning streak to six games in a row.
Nikita Kucherov tapped in an empty-net goal to cap a three-point night (1 goal, 2 assists) while Brayden Point scored twice. J.J. Moser added an assist to get to 100 career points while Darren Raddysh continued his career year with two more assists.
Three Things We Liked
- Brayden Point found the back of the net twice. The Lightning’s top center started the scoring as he tapped home a back-post feed from Jake Guentzel on the power play. After L.A. scored twice to take the lead, Point tied things back up as he entered the zone with speed, cut behind the net, and then got into a scoring spot to jam home the puck after it took a funny bounce. If he gets going, the Lightning’s offense becomes very, very dangerous.
- Jonas Johansson’s overall game. He probably wants the first goal back as Jeff Malott, not known as a goal-scorer, snapped one past him from the top of the circles. Other than that, Johansson was on point for most of the night. He made several key saves in the third period to keep the Bolts within a goal, including a breakaway stop that might have ended the night early. He finished with 17 saves on the night.
- The team’s ability to stick with their game plan. Down a goal for most of the night it would have been easy to cheat for offense, but they stayed responsible defensively and kept grinding away. Other than the breakaway, they made the Kings play hard for every inch of the ice and kept them to just 18 scoring chances at 5v5 on the night.
Two Things We Didn’t Like
- The Penalty Kill. Overall it’s been pretty good on the year, but they gave up two goals to one of the worst power play units in the league. The first one was a bit of bad luck as the puck bounced off of Erik Cernak and then Jonas Johansson’s pads before Andrei Kuzmenko fired a seeing-eye puck into the net to make it 2-1. However, Kevin Fiala’s goal was the product of the Lightning trying to push too much offense short-handed. Anthony Cirelli make a risky pass that was picked off and gave L.A. the numbers advantage that left Fiala wide open to put the puck in an empty net.
- Net front presence for most of the night. It’s kind of funny that Cirelli’s tying goal and Goncalves’ winning goal came on ugly, net-front goals considering that they spent most of the night not being able to get to second chances or dangerous opportunities in front of Darcy Kuemper. Most of his 19 saves were fairly easy.
Brayden Point [8] (Jake Guentzel, Nikita Kucherov) Power Play, 1-0 Lightning
"What a passing play! Point at the back post!" Pointer caps off a beautiful feed on the power play! #TBLvsLAK 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) January 1, 2026 at 7:31 PM
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Jeff Malott [3] (Corey Perry) 1-1
Los Angeles goal! Scored by Jeff Malott with 15:17 remaining in the 1st period. Assisted by Corey Perry. Los Angeles: 1 Tampa Bay: 1 #TBLvsLAK #GoKingsGo #GoBolts
— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) January 1, 2026 at 7:29 PM
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Andrei Kuzmenko [8] (Corey Perry, Kevin Fiala) Power Play, 2-1 Kings
Power play goal for Los Angeles! Scored by Andrei Kuzmenko with 13:46 remaining in the 1st period. Assisted by Corey Perry and Kevin Fiala. Los Angeles: 2 Tampa Bay: 1 #TBLvsLAK #GoKingsGo #GoBolts
— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) January 1, 2026 at 7:30 PM
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Brayden Point [9] (Darren Raddysh, J.J. Moser) 2-2
"BRAYDEN POINT!!! HIS SECOND GOAL TODAY!!!" Pointer stays hot and ties the game at two! #TBLvsLAK 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) January 1, 2026 at 9:03 PM
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Kevin Fiala [14] (Corey Perry, Andrei Kuzmenko) Power Play, 3-2 Kings
Power play goal for Los Angeles! Scored by Kevin Fiala with 18:23 remaining in the 3rd period. Assisted by Corey Perry and Andrei Kuzmenko. Los Angeles: 3 Tampa Bay: 2 #TBLvsLAK #GoKingsGo #GoBolts
— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) January 1, 2026 at 9:11 PM
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Anthony Cirelli [11] (Brandon Hagel, Nikita Kucherov) 3-3
"CIRELLI!!!!! ANOTHER BOUNCE FOR THE LIGHTNING!" Cirelli with a clutch goal to tie the game! #TBLvsLAK 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) January 1, 2026 at 9:44 PM
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Gage Goncalves [4] (Jake Guentzel, Anthony Cirelli) 4-3 Lightning
"Chips it in, SCORREEE!!! GAGE GONCALVES!!!!!" Gonzo grabs the lead for the Lightning late in the game! #TBLvsLAK 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) January 1, 2026 at 9:58 PM
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Nikita Kucherov [19] (Darren Raddysh, Brandon Hagel) Empty Net, 5-3 Lightning
Empty net goal for Tampa Bay! Scored by Nikita Kucherov with 00:45 remaining in the 3rd period. Assisted by Darren Raddysh. Los Angeles: 3 Tampa Bay: 5 #TBLvsLAK #GoKingsGo #GoBolts
— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) January 1, 2026 at 9:52 PM
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