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Quick Strikes: Kucherov hits 100 points, Brayden Point is gifted an alarm clock

It’s all in good fun!

-Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point missed the Lightning’s game this past Tuesday reportedly because he napped through a team meeting. A fan took matters into his own hands and gave the player a gift: An alarm clock.

(It looks like it was all taken as I’m sure it was intended - as good fun.)

-And now....We will proceed with the Nikita Kucherov love. Congratulations, Kuch!

Read more on how Kuch’s 100th point helped the team to a lead in Matt’s recap of last night’s game against the Sabres.

The Buffalo Sabres came to town this evening looking to claw their way back into the wildcard race. They managed a point, but failed to secure a victory as Nikita Kucherov scored the Lightning’s only goal and the winning shootout goal to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 2-1 win. Kucherov recorded his 30th goal and 100th point on the season, and in doing so became the only player in Lightning history to record multiple 100 point seasons. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Carter Hutton put on a goaltending duel as they both stopped 29 and 39 shots respectively.

-One of Kucherov’s biggest fans is his own teammate - Bolts’ captain Steven Stamkos:

“Everything stops. That’s one of the things that makes him so special. Every time he gets the puck, it’s like the game is being played in slow motion. Every time he gets the puck, you expect a certain kind of magic. He shoots — you don’t even hear it coming off his stick.”

-There’s so much that goes into every single game day that fans don’t ever get to see. For the Lightning, it begins and ends with their Zamboni drivers and ice crew.

Patrick Jesso remembers driving the Zamboni for the first time during a Tampa Bay Lightning game. Or, more to the point, attempting not to crash it.

”It’s very nerve-wracking, because you have 20,000 fans looking at you. And if you mess up, you still have 20,000 fans looking at you. You just want to make sure that you’re doing everything right,” he said.

-The Syracuse Crunch got a much-needed victory Wednesday night. Following the win, coach Ben Groulx was quick to admit that the team still has some work to do.

-Regardless, a win is a win.

-Alex Barre-Boulet is now in a three-way tie for 6th place in Crunch rookie scoring history. He is tied with current teammate and second-year pro Alex Volkov and former Crunch forward Peter Holland.

-The Crunch is conducting a blanket drive this weekend.

-Syracuse has a stick from their You Can Play night up for auction:

-The Crunch organization also donated a bunch of sticks to a local hockey program:

-Organizational forward Otto Somppi wasted no time making his presence back with the Orlando Solar Bears known.

-Charlie McAvoy reportedly turned down a long-term extension with the Boston Bruins last off season.

As part of an in-depth new story on McAvoy’s contract situation by The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa, the 21-year-old blue liner reportedly turned down a “long-term offer” last offseason through his agent Rick Curran. A possible sticking point in negotiations has been the extension that Aaron Ekblad received from the Florida Panthers: eight years, $60 million - a $7.5 million AAV. It’s unknown if that deal actually came up from McAvoy’s camp.

-The Mark Stone drama in Ottawa continues:

-The Washington Capitals traded for forward Carl Hagelin from the Los Angeles Kings yesterday.

-The waiver wire was humming yesterday. The Capitals’ Devante Smith-Pelly, Philadelphia Flyers’ Mike McKenna, and Pittsburgh Penguins’ Joseph Cramarossa all cleared. McKenna was then assigned to Lehigh Valley of the AHL, a team the Crunch will be playing one week from today. That game will first time McKenna, who helped backstop the Crunch to the Calder Cup final in 2017, could face his old team.

-With the trade deadline coming up, teams are getting prepared. The Florida Panthers are no exception:

-Do you want to score some booty from the Winnipeg Jets’ You Can Play night? Now’s your chance!

-Ilya Kovalchu of the Los Angeles Kings has listed his custom-built dream mansion in New Jersey for sale. The price? Oh, just $17.99 million.

The 22,000-square-foot mansion with a stucco and limestone exterior includes four turrets and a slate roof with leaded copper gutters. Inside, the eight-bedroom home — which additionally features 11 bathrooms and three half baths, plenty of room for the couple’s four children — has a formal living room and a “banquet-size” dining room.

-Teleclub and the NHL have renewed their broadcast rights partnership in Switzerland.

As part of the renewal, Teleclub will continue to deliver up to four live game broadcasts per week throughout the regular season. All regular season and Stanley Cup Playoff games will be broadcast in English with select games broadcast in German and French. In addition, Teleclub will carry the “European NHL Game of the Week,” which the NHL launched this season to deliver live NHL games in primetime throughout Europe.

-This week in EBUG stories:

-That same team had this crazy goal scored against them:

-This pay-walled article from The Athletic covers David Amber.

-Tomorrow is National Hockey Card Day, and UpperDeck has some deals going on:

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