EDMONTON – Nikita Kucherov has pushed his sport into overdrive.
The star Russian ahead had two targets and two assists to maneuver two factors forward of Connor McDavid for the NHL scoring lead with 118 factors because the Tampa Bay Lightning received their third sport in a row, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.
“I feel it’s a complete group effort,” stated Kucherov, who scored his fortieth purpose of the season and had his first profession short-handed purpose within the sport. “The group’s been enjoying effectively, and we comply with the sport plan and we execute performs and that’s paying off.”
Kucherov has been nothing wanting stellar of late with 12 factors in his final three video games and 22 factors in his final eight contests. In 29 video games within the 2026 calendar yr, he has logged 67 factors, 20 greater than McDavid. Kucherov now has 37 factors in 20 video games towards Edmonton.
“That child’s on fairly a run,” stated Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. “I don’t know many gamers on this league who’ve 4 factors in a sport interval, not to mention the quantity of occasions he will get them. It’s fairly magnificent. It was fairly cool that he received his first shorty tonight, that was loads of enjoyable on the bench.
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“I’m blessed to have the ability to see him each night time. I like once we come out West and true hockey followers get to see him. They’re blessed to see Connor McDavid each night time and Leon Draisaitl and also you get to throw Kuch within the combine with the greats that play this sport. It’s enjoyable for everybody.”
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Kucherov can also be the primary participant to document 75 factors over a 33-game span since Mario Lemieux did it in 1995-1996.
“He’s been doing all of it yr, I feel he has extra four-point video games than he does zero or one-point video games,” stated linemate Brandon Hagel, who picked up a pair of assists. “It’s like clockwork for him at this level.”
Kucherov is in search of his third straight Artwork Ross trophy for many factors and has additionally led the league in scoring in 2019, the yr he received the Hart Trophy as league MVP. McDavid, by comparability, has received 5 scoring titles and three Harts.
“There’s no phrases, easy as that, he does it each night time,” stated Tampa defenceman J.J. Moser. “He doesn’t get talked about how spectacular it’s for him to carry out like this night time after night time. There are merely no phrases for that.”
Anthony Cirelli had a pair of targets and Jake Guentzel additionally scored for the Lightning (43-21-4) who’ve received 4 of their final 5.
McDavid and Josh Samanski replied for the Oilers (34-28-9) who’ve misplaced two straight and missed out on an excellent alternative to entrench themselves within the playoff race with most of their key rivals additionally dropping earlier within the day.
“We’re lucky to play on this division,” McDavid stated. “A variety of groups are lucky to play on this division. It’s a little bit of a pillow combat proper now, however we’re grateful to not have misplaced any floor. That being stated, now we have to discover a option to win some video games right here on the street. Now we have to make some floor.”
Edmonton is three factors again of Pacific-leading Anaheim, one up on third-place Vegas and simply 5 factors away from fourth-place Los Angeles.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed March 22, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
