Tampa Bay Lightning stars Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos compete for top spot
Tampa Bay Lightning forwards Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov continue to compete for first place spot on the team, and sometimes the league.
The Tampa Bay Lightning definitely hasn’t been short in the offensive power department over the last few years. In addition to high-scoring players like Ondrej Palat and former Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin, defensemen like Victor Hedman made their way into the Top 3 on the team in overall points.
Just when Lightning fans thought things couldn’t possibly get any better for the team in the scoring department, here comes a healthy Steven Stamkos and his linemate Nikita Kucherov. The pairing of these two offensive powerhouses has led to an amazing season thus far and the creation of a team their opponents hate to play.
Right now, it is Nikita Kucherov who is leading the way for the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the 35 games he’s played so far this season, Kucherov has brought home 24 goals and 27 assists for a grand total of 51 points. Kucherov was the first player in the NHL to reach the 50 goal mark this season.
Lightning fans aren’t the only ones stunned by Kucherov’ performance so far this season. Nikita Kucherov currently leads the NHL in both goals and overall points.
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Right on the heels of Kucherov’ astronomical success this season is that of Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. Stamkos has already registered 13 goals and a whopping 32 assists for a total of 45 points. These numbers place Stamkos in second place on the team in overall points as well as third place in the league in assists and fourth place in the league in overall points.
Allow us to put their greatness into perspective. Coming into the Christmas break, the Tampa Bay Lightning has registered 131 goals and 236 assists for a grand total of 375 points. Of those goals, assists, and points, the duo of Stamkos and Kucherov account for 37 goals, 59 assists, and 96 points.
This means the dynamic duo of Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov are accountable for 28 percent of the team’s total goals, 25 percent of the team’s assists, and 26 percent of the team’s overall points. In other words, around ¼ of the team’s offense has come from the sticks of Stamkos and Kucherov.
We can’t be the only one here seeing flashbacks of the old Michael Jordan commercials with the song “Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)” playing in the background. Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov are seriously like two alphas running in the same pack.
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These two have not only excelled at their positions, but have also created an infectious on-ice chemistry which seems to be spreading to the rest of the team. If the team remains aggressive with the puck and continues to take shots from the dirty places, the Lightning will find themselves in a rather comfortable position when the postseason kicks off in April.