When Nikita Kucherov glided down the ice and snapped a shot past Ivan Fedotov last night, he recorded his 29th goal of the season. When he scores his next one, he’ll join Jake Guentzel (33), Brayden Point (32), and Brandon Hagel (31) in the 30-goal club, giving the Lightning a league-leading four members. It’ll also match the most 30 goal-scorers in a season, which they set back in 2022-23 when Kucherov had 30, Point had 51, Hagel had 30, and Steven Stamkos had 34.
There is an outside chance that they could set the record with five players, but Anthony Cirelli (22) or Nick Paul (20) would have to go on a heck of a heater to end the season.
Offense hasn’t been an issue for the Lightning as their 3.51 GF/G is tied for third all-time with last season in franchise history. The big difference this year is that they’re only allowing 2.64 GA/G, a vast improvement on the 3.26 GA/G they allowed last year.
Lightning News
Andrei Vasilevskiy shuts out Flyers [Raw Charge]
The Lightning keep pace with the Maple Leafs and gain two points on an idle Florida team (who are enjoying a three-day break). It was nice to see the big guns (Kucherov and Guentzel) get on the scoreboard.
Some takeaways from the Flyers 2-0 loss [Broad Street Hockey]
From the other side of the ice, our friends at BSH offer their opinions on the game.
NHL owner rankings [The Athletic]
Jeff Vinik tops the list of NHL owners. That is absolutely no surprise to anyone even remotely familiar with the organization. While he is no longer the majority owner, he is sticking around until at least 2027.
Hockey News
NHL provides clarity to GMs on goaltender interference [Sportsnet]
It seems interference challenges have become more successful this season as coaches are more aware of what constitutes interference. Buried in the extra notes of the column is the fact that 75% of games have been settled by one goal (or two goals including an empty-netter). Parity has come to the NHL.
PWHL surpasses one million fans [The Ice Garden]
It’s been just over a year since the first puck dropped for the PWHL. Since January 1, 2024, more than one million fans have attended a game. Attendance is up this season as 518,118 have already passed through the turnstiles and the playoffs haven’t started yet.
Utah Hockey Club have made a decision on new name [Dennis Dodd Twitter]
While there is no timeline on releasing the name, it does appear that the power that be have settled on the name of the franchise moving forward. It’s going to be Mammoth, isn’t it?
Darcy Kuemper leads 3 Stars of the Week [NHL.com]
Kuemper, Jesper Bratt, and Brandon Montour are you three stars of the week. Congrats, guys!
Which NHL teams have the longest postseason droughts? [ESPN]
Pretty amazing that the Lightning aren’t among the all-time top five (Sabres -13 and counting, Panthers -11, Oilers – 10, Hurricanes – 9, Devils – 9). For the record, the Lightning’s longest stretch of non-playoff appearances is six seasons from 1996 to 2002.
