Hockey
“We ruined everything.” In America, Kucherov’s cool records were ignored
One match was enough for Nikita to return to the race for individual awards.
It is unknown where Tampa Bay would be now if not for the exploits of Nikita Kucherov, who continues to carry the team from Florida. So in the next match, the brilliant performance of the Russian forward helped the Lightning get an important victory.
True, the team did not notice this.
Incredible performance
At the beginning of the road game against the Calgary Flames, it seemed that John Cooper’s squad would have a very difficult time. With the second shot on target, the hosts took the lead. Jonathan Huberdeau punished the Lightning with a quick counterattack.
But Tampa had no problem turning the game around. Kucherov led the team. Nikita scored the puck on a fast break towards the end of the first period, beating Daniel Vladarz in close combat. The second segment was an assistive benefit for the Russian forward, who took part in three goals for the guests.
By the break, the Lights had reduced the gap to a minimum. It seemed that a stubborn fight awaited the spectators in the third period, but already in the 43rd second Brandon Hagel strengthened the Lightning’s advantage. With the score 5:3, Kucherov also demonstrated excellent defensive skills, washing away the haters who often criticize him for playing defense. He returned from the opposing half and robbed Mikael Backlund, and then immediately organized a scoring attack.
Before the final siren, Nikita also showed up as an assistant. This helped the Lightning to a big victory with a score of 8:3. Tampa retained its place in the playoff zone, sitting in seventh place at the end of the game day.
“We didn’t know Nikita had so many points”
Kucherov scores six points in one match for the second time in his career. This is a repetition of not only his own best achievement, but also the team’s record. Brayden Point and Doug Crossman scored the same amount, but they only did it once each.
Three assists in the second 20 minutes helped him update the team record for the number of periods with three points – 25. The Russian forward also rewrote his own achievements in matches with 4+ and 5+ points. Now these records are equal to 31 and 7 matches, respectively.
In 2024, Tampa players literally burst into games with five assists. Darren Reddish achieved this achievement in March, and Hagel in November. Now it’s Kucherov’s turn. Only Marc Recchi and Martin St. Louis had five assists each for Tampa Bay through 2024.
The most surprising thing is that all these achievements did not make Nikita the main contender for recognition by his comrades after the final siren. They chose Jack Gunzel as the hero of the match, who scored a hat-trick. But the American objected to his partners, correctly noting the Russian’s contribution.
— We talked about who will receive the title of player of the match. Someone immediately said: “Güntzel scored a hat-trick, give it to him.” Then Jack immediately said: “No, it has to be Kucherov because he has six points. We didn’t know Nikita had so many points. We ruined everything,” Sportsnet columnist Eric Francis reports John Cooper as saying.
High performance in the game with Calgary helped Kucherov rise to second place in the list of top scorers in the league. Naturally, he also gained more whists in the race for the Hart Trophy for the most valuable player of the regular season.
Source: Sportbox
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.
The NHL returned after the Christmas break and several derbies took place on the first day of play.
New York Islanders beat the Rangers with a score of 2:0 on their home ice, extending their streak to five and taking second place in their league behind Carolina.
Another battle between neighbors Florida and Tampa Bay ended 4:2 in favor of the Lightning. Both teams in the Atlantic Group are in the top 4.
Maple won the Canadian derby between Toronto and Ottawa 7:5, while forward Auston Matthews scored three points. That’s right, Toronto is still second to last in the East.
In the west, Calgary won its derby against Edmonton 3-2, but Oilers captain Connor McDavid scored in 12 straight games.
Among other results, we highlight San Jose’s victory over Vancouver 6:3 thanks to McClean Celebrini’s 20th goal of the season, as well as table leaders Colorado’s hard-fought victory over Vegas 6:5 in the penalty shootout.
Regular season in NHL
New York Islanders – New York Rangers 2:0
buffalo -Boston 4:1
toronto -Ottawa 7:5
in florida – Tampa Bay 2:4
New Jersey – washington 3:4 in overtime
Caroline -Detroit 5:2
winnipeg – Minnesota 3:4 in overtime
St.Louis -Nashville 3:2
Dallas – Chicago 3:4 in shootouts
Los Angeles -Anaheim 6:1
calgary -Edmonton 3:2
Vancouver – San José 3:6
Vegas- colorado 5:6 in shootouts
Source: Sport UA
I have been working as a sports journalist for about 6 years now. I currently work as an author at Sportish, which is a sports news website. I mainly cover sports news and I love writing about all aspects of the sport. I also have experience working as a broadcast journalist, so I have some great insights into how sport is reported and presented.
Hockey
Junior World Hockey Championship. Victories for USA and Czech Republic, overtime for Canada and Latvia
The second day of competitions in the elite league of the U-20 World Youth Hockey Championship has ended.
After Slovakia’s victory against Germany in Group A, the host Americans took to the ice and defeated the Swiss team with a score of 2:1. The third goal of the tournament came from forward Will Zellers.
USA has two wins and first place in the group.
However, there was almost a sensation in group B. The Canadian team put the finishing touches on Latvia in overtime and won 2:1. It is interesting that Latvia unexpectedly beat Klenov a year ago but could not repeat this success.
For Canada, we highlight two points from forward Gavin McKenna, the likely first pick of the 2026 draft.
In another match, the Czech Republic defeated Denmark 7-2.
Junior Hockey World Championship U-20. Group A
America – Switzerland 2:1 (0:0, 2:1, 0:0)
Goals: 21:12 Ziemer (Hagens, Horcoff) – 1:0, 32:34 Sansonnens – 1:1, 34:40 Zellers (McKinney) – 2:1
Goalkeepers: Kempf – Kirsch
Group B
Latvia – Canada 1:2 (extension) (0:0, 0:1, 1:0, 0:1)
Discs: 22:22 Resni (McKenna, Brinicke) – 0:1, 58:02 Berzalns (Sartsh, Dilevka) – 1:1, in overtime 00:44 Hage (McKenna) – 1:2
Goalkeepers: Maurins – Ivankovic
Denmark – czech republic 2:7 (1:2, 1:3, 0:2)
Discs: 02:56 Cynar – 0:1, 05:53 Petersen -1:1, 11:57 Kubiesa – 1:2, 21:45 Nestrasil – 1:3, 24:39 Larsen – 2:3, 31:20 Jiricek – 2:4, 35:01 Hosh – 2:5, 45:41 Galvas – 2:6, 46:39 Zemlychka – 2:7
Goalkeepers: Vilde – Marik
Source: Sport UA
I have been working as a sports journalist for about 6 years now. I currently work as an author at Sportish, which is a sports news website. I mainly cover sports news and I love writing about all aspects of the sport. I also have experience working as a broadcast journalist, so I have some great insights into how sport is reported and presented.
The second day of matches in the elite league of the U-20 World Youth Hockey Championship has started.
The Slovak team, which tried to score points in the match against Sweden yesterday, defeated the German team 4-1, and forward Tomas Hrenko also scored a hat-trick.
The player could be selected in the first or second round of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.
An important success for the Slovaks, who defeated the group’s biggest rival in the fight for survival.
World Hockey Championship U-20. Group A
Slovakia – Germany 4:1 (2:0, 1:0, 1:1)
Discs: 10:33 Khrenko (German) – 1:0, 19:12 Khrenko (German, Straka) – 2:0, 32:23 Khrenko (Svrchek, Radivojevic) – 3:0, 51:09 Vilgoft – 3:1, 59:07 Belushko – 4:1
Goalkeepers: Pradel – Villard
Source: Sport UA
I have been working as a sports journalist for about 6 years now. I currently work as an author at Sportish, which is a sports news website. I mainly cover sports news and I love writing about all aspects of the sport. I also have experience working as a broadcast journalist, so I have some great insights into how sport is reported and presented.
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