CALGARY — Jon Cooper opened his post-game scrum still chuckling over his dressing room display.
“We were talking about who is going to get player of the game and right away someone is like, ‘(Jake) Guentzel had a hat trick, give it to him,'” revealed the Tampa Bay Lightning coach following an 8-3 win over the Calgary Flames.
“Then Guentzel right away said, ‘no, it’s got to go to Kuch (Nikita Kucherov) because he had six points.’
“We didn’t realize Kuch had six points. I didn’t even know.
“We blew it, we gave it to Guentzel.”
A guy picks up the NHL’s first six-point game of the season and the coaching staff didn’t even notice.
As Lightning broadcaster Dave Randorf shrugged earlier in the day, “Nikita Kucherov rolls out of bed and gets three points.”
Such is life for the reigning Art Ross Trophy winner, who didn’t even punctuate his new career-high for points with a post-game interview.
It marked the first time in 33 years an opposing player waltzed into Calgary and posted a frosty half-dozen points, dating back to an Ed Olczyk outing with the Winnipeg Jets in December 1991.
“He’s a magical player and you’re extremely fortunate if you can have one, maybe two on your team,” said Cooper.
“It’s been a pleasure to be around him. He’s so smart and just creates something out of nothing.
“But if you see, there’s a 2-on-1 against (on a second period power play) and he was the guy who backchecked. He played both ends of the rink, that’s what makes him special.”
In a game opened by an early Jonathan Huberdeau goal, Kucherov kick-started his evening late in the period when he stole the puck from Huberdeau at his own blue line and finished a long breakaway by snapping his 14th of the year past Dan Vladar.
It was his only shot of the game.
He then assisted on all three Tampa tallies in the second, including two on the power play, setting up a third period in which assists on two more Guentzel goals turned a one-goal lead into a throttling.
By night’s end, his vaunted line with Brayden Point (1-3) and Guentzel (3-0) had 13 points.
“Especially playing on his line, it just makes the game so much easier,” said Point, who marked his Calgary homecoming by becoming the third player in Bolts history to notch 100 power-play goals.
“Six points tonight, just incredible.
“It’s funny, it’s not hard to believe coming from Kuch, but he’s been rolling this season and is obviously a big part of our wins.”
The man who became just the fourth man in NHL lore to record a 100-assist season last year is on a six-game heater, scoring three goals and 12 assists in that stretch.
He’s a big part of the reason Point has a remarkable 19 goals in 23 games this year.
Kucherov’s new high also helped mark a season-low for the Flames, who hadn’t allowed an eight-spot since just before the pandemic.
From the final two periods, they were horrific, setting a nasty tone for a five-game homestand leading into Christmas.
But when you see how easy Kucherov, Point, Guentzel and the Lightning made it look, you have to tip your hat.
To put in perspective how dominant Kucherov has been, his 23 road assists alone puts him ahead of the 21 points Huberdeau has as the Flames’ leading scorer.
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His 44 points in 25 games puts him just three behind league-leader Nathan MacKinnon.
“It’s special,” said Ryan McDonough of ol’ Kuch.
“We see it very often, but the fact that he’s doing it pretty much every night for us is just incredible. He’s a humble player. He doesn’t cheat the game. He does it the right way. He loves playing in those situations and being counted on for us offensively. But let’s not overlook his backcheck there on the PP goal. That’s what we feed off of, is his 200-foot game.”
Not a bad outing for the second star of the game.
Then again, had Guentzel not pointed out Kucherov’s six-pack, Cooper might have rounded out the three stars with Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli.
Hagel had a goal and an assist, Cirelli had a goal and two helpers, demonstrating once again why they were named to Cooper’s Canadian team roster for the 4 Nation’s Face-Off.
“Guentzel had three goals, and Kuch with six points, but those two guys from Game 1 until now have been the straw that stirs the drink for us,” said Cooper.
“They’re the first guys over the boards for penalty kills, and do so much stuff when we’re trying to protect the lead.
“They’ve had a hell of a year and both deserve to be on that team.”
