Jake Guentzel and Pontus Holmberg also scored for the Lightning (21-13-3) who have won three straight. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves.

Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand scored for the Panthers (20-15-2), who had won five of their previous six. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead at 5:37 of the first period when Luostarinen chopped at a loose puck near the front of the net off a pass from Mackie Samoskevich. The puck hit two Tampa Bay sticks before Luostarinen backhanded one that Anthony Cirelli got a piece of.

Tampa Bay scored the next three goals.

Guentzel tied the score 1-1 on a short-handed breakaway after Florida turned it over at 13:05.

Another Florida turnover in the neutral zone led to a breakaway from Holmberg, who scored to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead with :08 remaining in the opening period.

Kucherov made it 3-1 at 2:31 of the second period, scoring on a 2-on-1 with Brayden Point for his 14th of the season.

The Panthers scored on a power play at 7:05 to make it 3-2, Marchand scoring off a pass from Sam Bennett from the bottom of the right face-off circle.

In the third period, the Tampa Bay penalty kill was put to the test in a 6-minute stretch. Scott Sabourin got minors for slashing and roughing; right after those penalties expired, Max Crozier was called for high sticking.

The Panthers did not score on any of the three power play chances despite six shots on goal and the score remained 3-2.

Tampa Bay helped secure the win by killing off another Florida power play that started with 5:21 remaining.

Kucherov scored into an empty net at 19:04 for the 4-2 final.

The Lightning have won two of the first three games of the season series against the Panthers, both in Sunrise. The two teams, which have met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in four of the past five years, play for the fourth and final time during the regular season on Feb. 5 at Tampa Bay.

Before the game, the Lightning announced they had signed defenseman J.J. Moser to an eight-year, $54 million contract ($6.75 million average annual valey) that begins next season.