After putting on quite the clinic on the ice, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov was named the Number One Star of the Week by the National Hockey League.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has been on a tough journey this season. In fact, there was a point in time where most Lightning fans had given up all hope on the team coming anywhere near the possibility of a playoff run. Now, the Lightning finds themselves within arm’s reach of one of the final spots in the postseason.
There is no denying the team has finally found a way to come together and work as one cohesive unit. Although, it would be incredibly hard to deny the efforts of one player, in particular, have played a large part in the Lightning’s current success. The aforementioned player would be Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov.
Nikita Kucherov has been on fire over the course of the last week. The 23-year-old Russian sniper has brought home seven goals and two assists for a total of nine points over the course of his last five games. Keeping this in mind, it should come as no surprise Kucherov was named the Number One Star of the Week by the NHL.
Tampa Bay Lightning
This is not the first time Kucherov has found himself in this position over the course of the 2016-17 season. Back on Nov. 7, Kucherov would be afforded the very same honor. By his side would be Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford and New York Rangers forward Kevin Hayes.
This time around, Kucherov is joined by a new duo of players. The second star of the week has been awarded to Dallas Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen and Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf
Nikita Kucherov may have gotten off to a bit of a slow start this season, but ever since Lightning captain Steven Stamkos was sidelined with his current knee injury, Kucherov has been the gold standard for the team in terms of goals scored and overall points.
Not counting tonight’s encounter with the Chicago Blackhawks, Nikita Kucherov has played in 67 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning this season. In this amount of time, Kuch has brought home 38 goals and 40 assists for a total of 78 points to accompany his plus-13 rating.
As we mentioned previously, Nikita Kucherov is having a stellar season with the Bolts; especially under the circumstances the Lightning has been handed this season. Much like defenseman Victor Hedman, Kucherov is having a personal record-setting season, having already surpassed all previous personal scoring records.
The Tampa Bay Lightning is entering one of the toughest times of the season. If the Bolts want to achieve their ultimate goal of earning themselves a spot in the postseason, they need to acquire every single point they can in between now and then. The Blackhawks won’t easily part with said points.
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Hopefully, Nikita Kucherov can show off some of his tremendous goal-scoring ability tonight and help the Lightning overcome the onslaught of a determined Chicago Blackhawks team.