The Russian language is great and powerful. But even in his rich arsenal, the entire stock of epithets is not enough to fully describe the genius of Nikita Kucherov. The Russian forward for Tampa Bay Lightning never ceases to amaze the whole world with his skills. From season to season, he rewrites dozens of pages in the history of world hockey. And right now Nikita is approaching the threshold of another achievement.
In today's NHL regular season match against the New Jersey Devils, Kucherov scored an assist hat-trick, scored a goal and extended another scoring streak.
His first assist was truly brilliant. Nikita was not embarrassed by the fact that there were five Devils field players facing him at once, and he took on them all alone, pulling the entire opponent’s defense onto himself. Thanks to this, all the other Lightning players, who had been guarded a moment earlier, were instantly freed. Probably, Kucherov, having reached someone else's penny, planned to shoot at the goal, but this was not possible. But it turned out to be a pass to an open Victor Hedman, who completed the attack with a goal.
Less than five minutes later, Kucherov again scored an assist. The Russian took part in the goal of Brayden Point, who squeezed out absolutely all the juice from a difficult situation and achieved a goal. The same assist allowed Nikita to reach the 100-point mark for the first time in the NHL season. The Russian's leadership in the race of top scorers in the current regular season is undeniable. He was the first to score 40 points, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and finally 100 points.
To reach this symbolic barrier, the Russian genius needed only 59 matches. This is faster than Kucherov's record-breaking season, when he ended up scoring 128 points in the 2018/19 edition. There is no doubt that the Lightning leader will rewrite this record — according to all forecasts, Nikita should score over 130 points. Over the past 30-odd years, of the Russians, only Alexander Mogilny scored a hundred percent faster than Kucherov in the 1992/93 season. Of the current NHL players, only Connor McDavid (2020/21 and -2022/23 seasons).
In total, this is the fourth time in his NHL career that Kucherov has reached the important hundred. And this is also the best result in the entire history of Russian hockey within the NHL championships. Only Alexander Ovechkin has a similar indicator, the last time he scored one hundred points back in 2010. Ovi's record lasted 14 years. Already in the next season, Kucherov can reach clear first place and secure the status of the best for many years.
Among all Russian hockey players in the history of the NHL, besides Kucherov and Ovechkin, only Evgeni Malkin (3 times), Alexander Mogilny, Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Bure (all three — twice) and Kirill Kaprizov (1) scored 100 points per season. We expect that Artemiy Panarin will finally join this list this season.
Kucherov ended his fiery match with another assist and a goal, thanks to which he brought the total number of matches with four points or more to five in the season and 26 — throughout his entire career in the NHL championship. Four Lightning goals, all involving the Russian super forward. It was thanks to him that the Lightning won an important victory in the fight for getting into the playoffs.
Nikita's lead over Nathan MacKinnon in the dispute for the title of top scorer of the season is already six points, and Connor McDavid's is 13. The Russian forward is racing towards his second Art Ross Trophy in his career. Together with him, Kuch should win his second Hart Trophy. If North American journalists leave a Russian without a prestigious prize simply because of the hockey player’s reluctance to express himself in the media field, then this will be a gross robbery and a crime.
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