Lightning at Red Wings
Nikita Kucherov hopes to continue his goal-scoring surge as the Tampa Bay Lightning begin a tough three-game road trip Monday, when they visit the Atlantic Division-rival Detroit Red Wings. Kucherov became the sixth player in the last 17 years and first since 2012 to score in each of his team’s first five games of the season Saturday, netting the winning goal as the Lightning knocked off St. Louis 2-1 for their third straight win.
Kucherov, who recorded a career-high 40 goals last season, has scored five and assisted on three others in the early going while playing on a line with captain Steven Stamkos and Vladislav Namestnikov. Kucherov notched three goals and five points in three games against Detroit last season as the Lightning swept the five-game set and extended their winning streak in the series to seven, including the 2016 postseason. Detroit is not the same team as the one that missed the playoffs for the first time in 26 seasons in 2016-17 as it has sprinted to a 4-1-0 start after getting four points from captain Henrik Zetterberg in Friday’s 6-3 win at Vegas. “He’s an unbelievable player and has been that for many, many years,” Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist told reporters of the 37-year-old Zetterberg. “It’s impressive what he still does.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One, TVA, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (4-1-0): Brayden Point, who is in his second season in the NHL, has matched Kucherov with eight points in the first five games and been a key figure in all corners of the rink while skating with Ondrej Palat and Yanni Gourde. “Where the Stamkos line has probably got a little more dynamic to it, the Point line has probably got a little bit more lunch pail to it,” coach Jon Cooper told reporters. “They make you earn it every shift.” Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has been brilliant despite his modest .911 save percentage, has played in all five games thus far and likely will sit out either Monday’s contest or Tuesday at New Jersey.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (4-1-0): Veterans Zetterberg (three goals, four assists) and defenseman Mike Green (eight assists) are off to strong starts, but young forwards Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin also have played major roles. Mantha has recorded three goals and four assists, Larkin has collected six points and the duo leads the team with 15 shots apiece while rookie Martin Frk has added some punch with three tallies and an assist. Trevor Daley, a key offseason free-agent signing, has been a steadying influence with a plus-4 rating in the first five contests and fellow blue-liner Niklas Kronwall was plus-3 in his second game of the season at Vegas.
OVERTIME
1. Detroit D Danny DeKeyser (lower body), who has not recorded a point in three games, is questionable after missing the last two contests.
2. Tampa Bay D Victor Hedman has scored 66 career goals and needs one to pass Dan Boyle for second on the franchise list among blue-liners.
3. The Red Wings are 21-for-23 on the penalty kill, good for third-best in the league (91.3 percent) through Saturday's action.