TORONTO — The hockey spotlight might shine brightest here in Toronto, but to everyone inside the Lightning dressing room, Nikita Kucherov has been the league’s starring act all season.
The last time Kucherov took the ice at Scotiabank Arena two months ago, he was booed by the home crowd during the All-Star Game skills competition for a performance that some fans saw as lackadaisical.
Kucherov is indeed complex. His game isn’t predicated on speed like his fellow Hart Trophy candidates. His magic comes from his ability to slow the game down and make the most difficult plays look simple but super.
In his return to Toronto on Wednesday night, Kucherov recorded three assists on his way to setting a Lightning franchise record for points in a season. He lead the surging Lightning to a 4-1 win over the Leafs that cut Toronto’s lead for third place in the Atlantic Division to four points with seven games remaining for both teams.
The Lightning are 9-1-1 over their past 11 games with an .863 points percentage that leads the league. It’s no coincidence that Kucherov has averaged more than two points a game over that stretch, including 20 assists.
“I think I still can be a lot better and a lot of guys and in this room can be a lot better,” Kucherov said. “Hopefully we will be better.”
Kucherov’s 130 points lead the league, three points ahead of Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and four more than Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, and they have bested the team record of 128 he set during his Hart Trophy-winning season in 2018-19. He also broke his own team record for assists (87) set that same season; he now has 88.
He is just the fifth player in the last three decades to record 130 points, joining an elite club that consists of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and McDavid.
“I get to stand there every night and I hope other people watch just how uniquely talented he is,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “But you can’t be that way unless you have an internal drive.”
Kucherov’s teammates know that drive best. They saw him back at the TGH IcePlex in Brandon taking pucks off the wall just days after the Lightning’s 2022-23 season ended following a first-round loss to Toronto.
And on Wednesday night, following an opening period in which the Lightning were flat and spent most of the time chasing the puck, Kucherov made a play off the wall that might go uncelebrated to the untrained hockey eye, but is the epitome of his greatness.
— Bally Sports Sun: Lightning (@BallyLightning) April 4, 2024SETTING THE RECORD!
Kuch's assist on Pointer's goal is his 129th point, breaking his Bolts single-season record! #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/YuAMfzm0yB
“You watch his summer drills and he takes hundreds and hundreds of pucks off the boards every single day,” said Lightning center Nick Paul. “Like it’s second nature to him. If it’s rimmed, he can just close his eyes, come in and still make the play. He’s just that good at it.
“In a game where controlling the puck is huge and buys you time instead of following pucks off the boards, he’s got full control, eyes up and now he can make a play with space. So it’s a big part of the game.”
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Explore all your optionsKucherov already had the primary assist on the Lightning’s first goal Wednesday, flying onto the ice as an extra attacker following a delayed penalty call and feeding Victor Hedman for a shot from the center point.
But with the score tied at 1 after Auston Matthews’ power-play goal with 60 seconds remaining in the first period, the Lightning needed a spark.
Coming off an offensive-zone faceoff win, Kucherov went into the corner and to the end wall, taking a rim from Anthony Duclair, freeing his stick from Toronto defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin. He read a bounce off the wall and angled a perfect one-touch pass to Brayden Point, who was wide open for a goal that put the Lightning up 2-1 at the 2:54 mark of the second and gave Kucherov the franchise record.
“Repetition, repetition, repetition, and that’s what he does and that’s why he makes those plays,” said Lightning wing Brandon Hagel, who had two assists. “When the puck’s getting rimmed around, just get open because I’m sure he sees you and he can pick that thing off the wall like nobody else.”
After Steven Stamkos gave Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead converting a 2-on-1 rush 8:47 into the second, the Lightning went into lockdown mode in the third, but were still pushing the puck into the offensive zone. Kucherov’s line didn’t allow a shot attempt, let alone a shot on goal in the final 20 minutes. Kucherov also assisted on Paul’s insurance goal with 5:41 left in the game.
“If you watch the way he played that third period and the compete and being on top and doing all those things that other players do, but don’t get as much credit for, he’s a marvel to watch,” Cooper said. “And in a big game we needed. He was unreal.”
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