TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored to give him his ninth 30-goal season and added two assists for 701 in his career and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Wednesday night for their sixth straight victory.
Brayden Point had two goals and an assist, Gage Goncalves had a goal and two assists and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves for the Lightning, who are 20-1-1 in their past 22 games. Vasilevskiy is 17-0-1 since Dec. 20.
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Tampa Bay Lightning center Jake Guentzel (59) gets off a shot on Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Toronto Maple Leafs center Bobby McMann (74) tries to shoot on Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Tampa Bay Lightning center Gage Goncalves (93) gets tripped up by Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (95) after scoring past goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) celebrates with the bench after his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs with center Gage Goncalves (93) and defenseman Emil Lilleberg (78) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Tampa Bay won in its first game back from the Olympic break without coach Jon Cooper on the bench. Cooper, who led Canada to the silver medal at the Milan Cortina Games, will miss two games after the death of his father, Robert.
Assistant Rob Zettler stepped in for Cooper and the Lightning ended the Maple Leafs' three-game winning streak.
The Russian-born Kucherov got his 700th assist in his 855th NHL game, becoming the second-fastest player born outside of North America to reach the mark and trailing only Peter Stastny (784 games). The milestone assist came on Goncalves' goal at 7:58 of the second period that gave the Lightning a 2-0 lead.
Kucherov's 30th goal came at 2:59 of the third and made it 3-0. His nine 30-goal seasons tie him with Steven Stamkos for the most in team history.
John Tavares and Matthew Knies scored and Anthony Stolarz made 32 saves for the Maple Leafs, whose five-game winning streak against the Lightning was stopped.
With Stolarz pulled to give Toronto an extra skater, Tavares scored with 3:41 remaining to end the shutout bid for Vasilevskiy. It came moments after Jake Guentzel missed an empty-net goal for the Lightning when his shot hit the post.
After Point made it 4-1, Knies capped the scoring with 2:47 left for Toronto. Auston Matthews had an assist on the goal, tying Tim Horton for 10th on the career franchise list with 349.
Maple Leafs: Play at Florida on Thursday night.
Lighting: Play at Carolina on Thursday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Tampa Bay Lightning center Jake Guentzel (59) gets off a shot on Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Toronto Maple Leafs center Bobby McMann (74) tries to shoot on Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Tampa Bay Lightning center Gage Goncalves (93) gets tripped up by Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (95) after scoring past goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) celebrates with the bench after his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs with center Gage Goncalves (93) and defenseman Emil Lilleberg (78) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un claimed his nuclear-armed country could “completely destroy” South Korea if its security were threatened, reiterating his refusal to engage with Seoul, state media said Thursday. However, he left the door open to dialogue with Washington as he concluded a ruling party congress outlining his policy goals for the next five years.
Kim in recent years has sharpened his rhetoric toward Seoul and underscored his rejection of inter-Korean diplomacy. Experts say that most likely doesn't presage military clashes, but is intended to advance a broader effort to assert a more forceful regional role backed by Kim's nuclear arsenal and ties with Moscow and Beijing.
The official Korean Central News Agency said that Kim also called for developing new weapons systems to bolster his nuclear-armed military, including intercontinental ballistic missiles that could be launched from underwater and an expanded arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons, such as artillery and short-range missiles, targeting South Korea.
He said the accelerated development of his nuclear and missile program in recent years “permanently cemented” the country’s status as a nuclear weapons state, and called for the United States to discard what he perceives as “hostile” policies toward the North if it wants to resume long-stalled dialogue.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it was regrettable that the North continues to define inter-Korean relations as hostile and that Seoul will “patiently” pursue efforts to stabilize peace.
The Workers’ Party congress, which began last Thursday in Pyongyang, is the country's most important political event. KCNA said the North staged a military parade in the capital Wednesday as it wrapped up the congress, previously held in 2016 and 2021.
Watching the parade with his increasingly prominent daughter — believed to be around 13 years old and named Kim Ju Ae — Kim Jong Un in a speech said his forces were capable of “immediately and thoroughly retaliating” against any hostile threat. But the state outlet did not immediately say whether he showcased his largest weapons, including ICBMs potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
Kim’s comments at the congress were widely anticipated as he has been issuing increasingly hard-line views toward South Korea since 2024, when he discarded the North’s long-standing goal of a peaceful reunification between the war-divided Koreas and declared the South as a permanent enemy. But analysts expected Kim to take a more measured approach toward Washington to preserve the possibility of future dialogue, with the long-term aim of securing U.S. sanctions relief and tacit recognition as a nuclear state.
Kim has recently been prioritizing Russia in his foreign policy, sending thousands of troops and large amounts of military equipment to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, possibly in exchange for aid and military technology. But it would make sense to keep his options open as the war in Ukraine could wind down, potentially making North Korea less valuable to Moscow, experts say.
In a report wrapping up the congress, Kim said his government was maintaining the “toughest stance” against Washington, but added there was “no reason we cannot get along” with the Americans if they withdrew their supposedly “hostile policy” toward the North. North Korea often uses the term to describe U.S.-led pressure and sanctions over Kim’s nuclear ambitions. His comments aligned with North Korea’s previous position calling for Washington to abandon its demands for the North’s denuclearization as a precondition for reviving talks.
North Korea has repeatedly rejected Washington and Seoul’s calls to resume diplomacy aimed at winding down its nuclear program, which derailed in 2019 following the collapse of Kim’s second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term.
The prospects of U.S.-North Korea relations “depends entirely on the U.S. attitude,” Kim said. “Whether it’s peaceful coexistence or permanent confrontation, we are ready for either, and the choice is not ours to make.”
Analysts say Kim’s vilification of South Korea reflects his view that Seoul, which helped set up his first meetings with Trump, is no longer a useful intermediary with Washington but an obstacle to his effort to establish a more assertive regional footing.
He has also shown a sensitivity to South Korean soft power, pushing aggressive domestic campaigns to block the influence of South Korean culture and language among his population as he looks to tighten his family’s authoritarian grip.
At the congress, Kim derided liberal South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s calls for engagement as a deception, accusing successive governments in Seoul of seeking the North’s collapse. He said there is “absolutely nothing to discuss” with an enemy state and that the North would “permanently exclude” the South from the notion of a shared nation.
“As long as the Republic of Korea cannot escape its geopolitical condition of sharing a border with us, the only way it can live safely is to abandon all ties with us and refrain from provoking us,” he said, disdainfully referring to South Korea’s formal name.
Tensions could further rise next month when South Korea stages its annual military exercises with the United States. North Korea portrays the allies' joint exercises as invasion rehearsals and often uses them as a pretext to dial up its own military demonstrations.
North Korea in past years has developed or tested much of the weapons from an extensive wish list Kim issued at the previous congress in 2021, including solid-fuel ICBMs, tactical nuclear systems and purported hypersonic weapons. The country launched its first military satellite in 2023 and has recently claimed progress in building a nuclear-propelled submarine.
At the latest congress, Kim set new goals to advance his nuclear forces in the next five years while calling for faster production of nuclear warheads and a broader range of delivery systems.
Emphasizing naval capabilities, Kim called for ICBMs that could be fired from underwater platforms, indicating potential plans to fit those weapons on the nuclear-propelled submarine being built. He called for developing artificial intelligence-equipped attack drones, stronger electronic warfare capabilities to disable enemy command centers, more advanced reconnaissance satellites and unspecified weapons to strike enemy satellites.
He also said the military will deploy more nuclear-capable artillery systems against South Korea in phases each year while speeding up efforts to “fortify” the inter-Korean border.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, soldiers attend a parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026 as the North wrapped up the Workers’ Party congress. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, soldiers attend a parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026 as the North wrapped up the Workers’ Party congress. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un attends a parade with his daughter in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026 as the North wrapped up the Workers’ Party congress. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
A TV screen shows a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A TV screen shows a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
This photo provided Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center, attends the ruling Workers’ Party Congress in Pyongyang, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This photo provided on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during the ruling Workers’ Party Congress in Pyongyang, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
