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EDMONTON – Nikita Kucherov has pushed his game into overdrive.
The star Russian forward had two goals and two assists to move two points ahead of Connor McDavid for the NHL scoring lead with 118 points as the Tampa Bay Lightning won their third game in a row, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.
“I think it’s a whole team effort,” said Kucherov, who scored his 40th goal of the season and had his first career short-handed goal in the game. “The team’s been playing well, and we follow the game plan and we execute plays and that is paying off.”
Kucherov has been nothing short of stellar of late with 12 points in his last three games and 22 points in his last eight contests. In 29 games in the 2026 calendar year, he has logged 67 points, 20 more than McDavid. Kucherov now has 37 points in 20 games against Edmonton.
“That kid’s on quite a run,” said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. “I don’t know many players in this league who have four points in a game period, let alone the amount of times he gets them. It’s pretty magnificent. It was pretty cool that he got his first shorty tonight, that was a lot of fun on the bench.
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“I’m blessed to be able to see him every night. I love when we come out West and true hockey fans get to see him. They’re blessed to see Connor McDavid every night and Leon Draisaitl and you get to throw Kuch in the mix with the greats that play this game. It’s fun for everyone.”
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Kucherov is also the first player to record 75 points over a 33-game span since Mario Lemieux did it in 1995-1996.
“He’s been doing it all year, I think he has more four-point games than he does zero or one-point games,” said linemate Brandon Hagel, who picked up a pair of assists. “It’s like clockwork for him at this point.”
Kucherov is seeking his third straight Art Ross trophy for most points and has also led the league in scoring in 2019, the year he won the Hart Trophy as league MVP. McDavid, by comparison, has won five scoring titles and three Harts.
“There’s no words, simple as that, he does it every night,” said Tampa defenceman J.J. Moser. “He doesn’t get talked about how impressive it is for him to perform like this night after night. There are simply no words for that.”
Anthony Cirelli had a pair of goals and Jake Guentzel also scored for the Lightning (43-21-4) who have won four of their last five.
McDavid and Josh Samanski replied for the Oilers (34-28-9) who have lost two straight and missed out on a glorious opportunity to entrench themselves in the playoff race with most of their key rivals also losing earlier in the day.
“We’re fortunate to play in this division,” McDavid said. “A lot of teams are fortunate to play in this division. It’s a bit of a pillow fight right now, but we’re thankful not to have lost any ground. That being said, we have to find a way to win some games here on the road. We have to make some ground.”
Edmonton is three points back of Pacific-leading Anaheim, one up on third-place Vegas and just five points clear of fourth-place Los Angeles.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
