The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-3 on the first day of 2026. Gage Goncalves scored the game-winning goal with less than two minutes left in regulation. Nikita Kucherov added an empty-net goal in the closing seconds and also contributed two assists.
On replay in our dreams ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/8LKVcwPpWq
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) January 2, 2026
Brayden Point led the Bolts with two goals. Darren Raddysh and Jake Guentzel also notched two assists a piece. Raddysh now has back-to-back multi-point games and three in the last five games. He’s on fire, and a big catalyst behind Tampa’s current form. Guentzel now has 12 multi-point games this season.
Tampa has improved to 5-2-1 on the second half of back-to-back games. The Lightning have now won three consecutive road games, and have picked up points in six consecutive road games. They look to complete a three-game west coast road trip sweet as they visit the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
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