By Michael Wax
After falling behind 2-0 early, the Lightning used a historic performance from Brayden Point, a huge performance from Nikita Kucherov, and an overall solid effort from the offense to double up the Rangers 6-3 on Thursday night. Here's how they stacked up:
Hagel-Point-Kucherov
Stamkos-Cirelli-Duclair
Eyssimont-Paul-Sheary
Motte-Glendening-Chaffee
Hedman-Raddysh
Perbix-Cernak
Fleury-Dumba
Vasilevskiy
Here are three things we noticed from the game:
Point in Warmups
The Lightning had a very difficult time defensively in the first period, specifically when the top line for the Bolts was matched up against the top line for the Rangers. In particular, Brayden Point himself missed two key defensive assignments that led to net front opportunities and gave the Rangers a multi-goal lead heading into the first intermission. But, as they say, there is a point to warm-ups, and over the next 40 minutes, Brayden Point made it a point to take over the game.
Points first goal will most likely get lost in the memory banks, but it was super important. More specifically, it turned a bad Rangers turnover right outside of the blue line into a rush opportunity, where Kucherov fed Point for the semi-breakaway, and he beat Igor Shesterkin over the glove.
Point also picked up the primary assist on Anthony Duclair's tying goal in the second, though that one was more of a situation in which Point's shot was denied, and the rebound found its way over to Duclair.
Even after the Lightning had gone down 3-2 in the third, Point was there less than two minutes later to sneak a shot by Shesterkin during four-on-four play and tie the game at three.
Point's most impressive play might've been during the power-play to set up the eventual game-winning goal from Steven Stamkos. After receiving a pass from Anthony Cirelli, Point gave up his body to be checked before feathering a backhand pass into the wheelhouse of Stamkos for the 4-3 goal.
Point's fifth point of the night was off of a beautiful pass from Nikita Kucherov, seconds after Point had hit the post. Driving towards the front of the net, Point was able to get a stick on Kucherov's pass and deflected behind Shesterkin for the hat trick.
Finally, with his assist on Kucherov's empty-net goal, Point picked up his sixth and final point of the night and tied lightning history by doing something that had only been done twice before.
The Duke
It's only been two games, but Anthony Duclair has already made a rockstar impact on the Lightning. Originally, he seemed to be mashing super well with Steven Stamkos on the second line and netted a goal in his Lightning debut. In this one, even after a couple of really nice chances with Stamos and linemate Anthony Cirelli, Duclair was given an even bigger task and hit it out of the park.
In the first period, the top line was getting eaten alive defensively. So, thanks to the tactical masterclass from Jon Cooper, he had Duclair and Hagel switch lines in order to generate some offense and create some mismatches. What transpired next was 40 minutes of dominance by the lightning, doing no small part to that new look line. While Duclair only got one point out of the 12 that line had scored, this was a vital moment in the game that gave the Lightning a huge boost going at the second intermission.
With less than two minutes to go in the second period, that line again went to work in the offensive zone. Duclair speed was able to get him into the proper position along the boards, and a quick read of the play had him finding Brayden Point in between the dots. While Shesterkin denied Point, the rebound bounced around enough for Duclair to get right in position and find the puck with a wide-open net to get to his second goal in two games with the Lightning.
Even though it's only been two games, Anthony Duclair has been on fire so far from the Lightning. It's very reminiscent of when Nick Paul was traded to the Lightning in 2022; a guy who is making a noticeable difference, both in his production and through fans' eyes. The lightning badly needed a guy with swagger and skill, and Julien BriseBois made a huge move to reshuffle the deck and grab him at the deadline.
Knock, Knock
While the Lightning had been off for five days, Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon really seemed to widen the gap between himself and Nikita Kucherov in the scoring race. Not only that, but it felt like a matter of time before Connor McDavid would pass Kucherov as well. Fast-forward just 60 minutes, and Kucherov is right back in the thick of the race after another dominant outing.
Against the Rangers, Cara put together his third five-point game this season. While not quite as impressive statistically as his six-point outing against the Hurricanes on November 24, this outing got him within three points of the NHL scoring lead with two games in hand on MacKinnon.
The Lightning have a tough road ahead. This win with a massive stealth steam boost to prove that they could compete with the bigger teams. However, Kucherov has consistently been a monster, and just four points over his next two games would give him the NHL scoring lead back after holding it for 100 days throughout the season.
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