Lightning's Nikita Kucherov joins exclusive Connor McDavid NHL scoring club
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Lightning's Nikita Kucherov joins exclusive Connor McDavid NHL scoring club originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning have clearly not been pleased with their performances as of late. Coach Jon Cooper has gone on a four-game losing streak after the Olympics and they did not want their chances of earning a top seed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to slip away. They had a chance to finally get their groove back against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nikita Kucherov was doing everything to keep them from losing. He even notched a scoring record that Connor McDavid only accomplished.
Tampa Bay ends four-game skid
In a display of pure dominance, the Lightning took command right off the gate to win 5-2 over the Maple Leafs. Coach Cooper found the schemes that made the squad look like a well-oiled machine and he had Nikita Kucherov to thank for how their offense ran smoothly. Number 86 dished out four assists against Toronto and got his teammates the proper angles for goals.
These four points that Kucherov scored allowed him to notch 100 points this season. Throughout just 57 games, he sits second to McDavid as the only two active players in the NHL to achieve the feat so quickly. The Edmonton Oilers star was able to notch this scoring record in just 53 games back in the 2020-21 NHL season.
Coach Cooper had nothing but praise for the 32-year-old veteran at right wing, via Dave McCarthy of NHL.com.
"It’s like poetry on ice watching him play. He sees things other guys don’t. I’ve been fortunate to have a front row seat to it for almost a decade. Just his ability to create and his vision, it’s unparalleled. There are world-class players in this League, I just had a couple of them in Milan but they play a different style than Nikita. He plays a fast game but he has the ability to slow the whole thing down," the Lightning head coach declared.
Tampa Bay just got their win at the right time. If they had not been able to vanquish the Maple Leafs, the Buffalo Sabres would have taken them over for the top spot in the Atlantic Division. As of the moment, the Lightning have 82 points and a 39-18-4 record. Will they be able to hold on until the Stanley Cup Playoffs start?