At 6:02 of the third period, Steven Stamkos appeared to give the Lightning a 3-1 lead, but the Bruins successfully contested the play for offside.
However, Kucherov scored an empty net goal at 19:33, making it a 3-1 final. Kucherov leads the NHL with 124 points (42 goals, 82 assists), one more than Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.
“I’m not going to take anything away from what we’ve done. I think we played strong from the moment the puck dropped until the end,” Lightning coach John Cooper said. “Boston played a really tough game last night, but they found a way to push back and come back and get the win. The message to the players was that they should catch a team that might be a little tired.”
Note: Kucherov’s 42 goals are an NHL career high. He scored 41 points in the 2018-19 season. … Point has 10 goals in his last seven games. Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman had an assist, giving him 70 points (12 goals, 58 assists) this season, his third such goal. He joins Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins (5 games), Brent Burns of the Carolina Hurricanes (3 games) and John Karlsson of the Washington Capitals (3 games) as the only players to score 70 points in at least three seasons. He became an active defenseman. … Point and Hedman each returned after missing the Lightning’s 3-2 overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday with lower-body injuries. … Bruins forward Brad Marchand had two shots on goal but hasn’t scored in his last eight games. He’s one shy of 400 points in the NHL. … In the second half of the back-to-back, Boston was 4-3-4.
