Look. We know that other players contributed to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. Brandon Hagel had a goal and two assists to run his points streak to 13 games. Jonas Johansson bounced back from some rough outings to stop 18 of 19 shots for his first win since January 20th. Victor Hedman and Brayden Point had multi-point games as well, but let’s be honest Sunday was Kucherov’s day.
Not only was he the first player in the NHL to crack the 100-point barrier this season, he had a hand in all four goals. So for the recap, it’s all Nikita Kucherov.
After a scoreless first period, Lightning goal number one came at the 1:27 mark of the second period off of the stick of Victor Hedman. Kucherov started the play with a nice keep at the blue line. He then recovered the puck and cut to the slot. A subtle little fake pass pulls one Devil out of position, the other four collapse on him. The puck ended up with a wide-open Hedman who beat Akira Schmid with the shot.
Victor Hedman (Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel) 1-0 Lightning
That was point number 99 on the season. Kucherov didn’t wait long to pick up point 100. Two-and-a-half minutes later. I’m not going to lie, Kuch didn’t have a whole lot to do with this one as it was pretty much Point being Point. After Kucherov tipped Hedman’s long pass into the offensive zone, Point recovered it and beat Schmid from a bad angle. That was goal number 30 on the season for Pointer.
Brayden Point (Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman) 2-0 Lightning
With Steven Stamkos in the penalty box for tripping, the Lightning witnessed a small miracle – a Devils’ power play goal. The Hughes boys set up Tyler Toffoli for his 25th goal of the season.
Tyler Toffoli (Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes) Power Play, 2-1 Lightning
Brandon Hagel (Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov) 3-1 Lightning
How about an empty net goal to finish off the night? After a scrum along the boards, Kucherov, almost reluctantly fired it into the vacated net. It was goal number 38 for the wingers to go along with his 64 assists.
Nikita Kucherov (Brandon Hagel) Empty Net, 4-1 Lightning
For Kucherov it’s his fourth 100-point season. It’s also the fourth time he’s racked up more than 60 assists. With two more goals he’ll hit the 40-goal mark for the third time in his career. If he scores four more than he’ll set a new career-high in goals.
With the win, the Lightning leapfrog the Detroit Red Wings and are back in the first wild card spot. They’ve started their road trip with two wins and are looking to make it perfect with another victory against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.
