For much of the past decade, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been one of the NHL’s most dominant teams.
Since 2015, Tampa Bay has won two Stanley Cups, repeating in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
A massive part of the team’s success has been right wing Nikita Kucherov. Wednesday night in Tampa’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kucherov set a new single-season points record for the Lightning, as he tallied his 129th point of the season after a second-period assist.
Kucherov set the previous single-season points record of 128 in the 2018-19 season. He is the only player in Lightning history to record multiple 120+ point seasons.
He also tied the Lightning single-season assists record with the point Wednesday night, recording his 87th assist of the season and tying the 2018-19 high mark set by… Nikita Kucherov. He was rewarded for his efforts in the 2018-19 season by winning the Hart Trophy, the NHL’s MVP award.
Since being selected by the Lightning in the 2011 NHL Draft, Kucherov has spent his entire career with the team. In addition to his regular season accolades, he has played a huge role in the playoffs. Kucherov is Tampa Bay’s postseason points leader with 154 (52 goals, 102 assists), and also totaled a franchise-best 34 points in the 2019-20 postseason that ended with the Lightning winning the Stanley Cup.
About Robert O'Neill