Top five goal scorers in Tampa Bay Lightning history
Tampa Bay Lightning All-Time Goal Scorer No. 4: Nikita Kucherov
- 2013- Present
- 276 career goals
- 41 goals in 2018-19
Note more for his playmaking than his goal-scoring, Nikkita Kucherov could probably have 50 more goals in his career if, in the words of Phil Esposito, he would just “shoot the puck.”
He’s talented enough that he can score even when he doesn’t shoot.
As it is, Kucherov has wristed home 276 goals during this time with the Lightning. Since 2015, he has only scored less than 30 goals once, and that was in 2021-22, when he missed time due to injury.
Of course, he would also be over 300 career goals already had he not missed the regular season in 2021, but sat out so the Tampa Bay Lightning could manipulate the salary cap (at least that’s what rival fanbases have told us).
He has a career shooting percentage of 14.5% and, at 30 years old, still has plenty of time to catch the man who is number three on the list.
Today’s #GoBolts random goal of the day is “the Kucherov”. Nikita Kucherov has pulled this move off three times. This was the one and only time in a regulation game. pic.twitter.com/eDLLz0UydS
— Bolts By The Bay (@BoltsByTheBay) August 6, 2023
Tampa Bay Lightning All-Time Goal Scorer No. 3: Martin St. Louis
- 2000 – 2014
- 365 career goals
- 43 goals in 2006-07
The man to grace the cover of NHL 2K5 and the man first to get his name and number raised to the rafters in Amalie Arena, the story of the Tampa Bay Lightning can’t be told without Martin St. Louis.
As is well known with his story, St. Louis went undrafted and was originally a member of the Calgary Flames. After two seasons with the franchise, the Flames left him exposed for the 2000 Expansion Draft as the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild entered the league. And given the expansion draft rules then, it shows you what Calgary thought of St. Louis.
When neither Colombus or Minnesota took the bait, Calgary bought him out, and he made his way to Tampa.
Their loss was the Bolts’ gain as he had a couple of productive seasons before his breakout year in 2002-03 when he scored 33 goals.
The following season he scored 38 goals during the regular season, the fourth most in the league (it was a much different game then).
Like Point, his most iconic goal also came in the playoffs during Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the same team that went out of their way to get rid of him.
(June 5, 2004) — #Lightning vs. #Flames, Stanley Cup Finals, Game 6 (2OT)
— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) June 15, 2020
"Game 7! Martin St. Louis! We are going back to Tampa Bay!" pic.twitter.com/vZr3gh6mw5
Tampa Bay Lightning All-Time Goal Scorer No. 2: Vincent Lecavalier
- 1998 – 2013
- 383 career goals
- 52 goals in 2006-07
The polar opposite of St. Louis when it came to the NHL Draft, Vincent Lecavalier was drafted first overall in 1998 and immediately suited up for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Like St. Louis, it took until the 2002-03 season for Lecavalier to break out, as he put up 78 points that season. He scored 32 goals during the Stanley Cup-winning year as part of the only five-year stretch where he put up at least 30 goals.
His 2006-07 campaign resulted in winning the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for having the most goals in the NHL with 52. He wasn’t able to sustain his superstar status as he never topped 30 goals in a season after the 2007-08 campaign.
By 2010 injuries took hold, and Lecavalier never played more than 70 games in a season from 2010 until his retirement in 2016.
He, too, has had his jersey retired by Tampa in the rafters of Amalie Arena.
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1384878402021302274?s=20
Tampa Bay Lightning All-Time Goal Scorer No. 1: Steven Stamkos
- 2008 – Present
- 515 career goals
- 60 goals in 2011-12
Even the most casual of Tampa Bay Lighting fans could tell where Stamkos is most likely to score a goal from; the left circle just above the faceoff dot.
But his impact with the Lightning goes well beyond his goal-scoring prowess.
As the first overall selection in the 2008 NHL Draft, Stamkos cemented himself as a star in the NHL by just his second season, putting up 51 goals during the 2009-10 season, and it looked like he had an outside shot of breaking the all-time NHL record when he put up 60 goals during his fourth season.
Unfortunately, a combination of an NHL lockout, a shortened season due to Covid, and a smattering of injuries, including a broken leg in 2013, a torn lateral meniscus in 2016, and surgery to repair a core muscle in 2020 put a damper on any hopes of that happening.
Still, one of the biggest moments in franchise history is when Stamkos opted to resign with Tampa in 2016 for below-market value, setting the bar for players like Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, and Brayden Point to also sign for less money so that the Lightning as a whole could stay competitive and win a Stanley Cup or two.
Of current members of the Lightning, Point is the only immediate threat to top Stamkos on this list eventually. But having put up 34 goals last season, Stamkos could get to 600 goals before he opts to hang up the skates for good.
With 60 days to go until opening night, here’s a throwback to 2012 when Steven Stamkos scored goal number 60
— NICK PAUL’S HYPEMAN 🇨🇦 (@BLXCKMASS1) August 11, 2023
To this day Steven Stamkos is only one of twenty-two players to score sixty goals in a single seasonpic.twitter.com/HMOJL1yVEg