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Tampa Bay Lightning star winger Nikita Kucherov became only the third player in NHL history to have scored 30-plus points in consecutive postseasons, joining hockey legends Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
Kucherov has 64 points between his championship season and this year’s race to the cup, according to NHL stats. Only four players in league history have recorded 30 plus points in the postseason including Gretzky (6x), Mark Messier (3x), Jari Kurri (2x) and Lemieux (2x).
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Only Gretzky and Lemieux were able to do so in back-to-back postseasons, totaling 82 and 78 points, respectively — and now you can add Kucherov to that list.
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Kucherov’s clutch playoff performance helped the Lightning take the lead over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday.
He scored a goal early in the third before scoring again at 11:25 to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead and again later in the period. He assisted captain Steven Stamkos’ power-play goal to finish the Canadiens off at 5-1.
"That's one of the best players in the world shooting that puck," Stamkos said after the game.
"Coming off the face-off circle like that, we’ve seen that plenty of times. It was a huge goal for us, gave us some breathing room. He's playing like a beast right now. He's so, so good."
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Kucherov missed the 56-game regular season after undergoing hip surgery. He returned for the playoffs but most of Game 6 and after taking a cross-check to the lower back.
"It was tough mentally not being able to play, but it’s all in the past," Kucherov said. "I’m really enjoying the moment. Happy to be with the boys. Just excited to play in the final."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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