NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists, Steve Stamkos scored twice, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Detroit Red Wings for the 11th consecutive time, 4-1 on Thursday in Tampa, Fla.

Kucherov's four-point night gave him 76 for the season. Alex Killorn also scored for Tampa Bay, and Victor Hedman contributed three assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 38 saves as the Lightning completed a sweep of the four-game season series. Vasilevskiy has an NHL-high 34 victories.

Tomas Tatar scored the Red Wings' lone goal with Tyler Bertuzzi and Niklas Kronwall recording assists. Jimmy Howard stopped 28 shots as Detroit held a 39-32 advantage in shots on goal.

The Lightning halted a two-game slide while the Red Wings have lost four of their last six.

The Wings peppered Vasilevskiy with 17 shots in the first period but still trailed 2-0 when it ended. Stamkos scored his first goal 3:55 into the contest. Hedman slid a pass from the opposite side to Stamkos, who one-timed it past Howard from the right circle.

Kucherov's fifth goal against Detroit this season made it 2-0 at the 7:05 mark. With the Wings' Anthony Mantha in the penalty box for holding, Vladislav Namestnikov carried the puck past the blue line and set up Kucherov in the slot. Kucherov then beat Howard on the glove side.

The teams traded power-play goals in the second period. Stamkos collected his second goal of the night and 23rd of the season off a perfect right-to-left feed from Kucherov at 18:08.

Tatar answered with 31 seconds remaining in the period, firing a shot that threaded its way through traffic and past Vasilevskiy. Tatar has scored 15 goals, eight on power plays.

Tampa Bay made it 4-1 at 1:35 of the third period. Following a Red Wings giveaway, Kucherov skated into the Detroit zone along the right side. He moved toward the net and dropped off a pass to Killorn, who backhanded the puck past Howard.

--Field Level Media