In tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, Nikita Kucherov scored his 40th goal of the season on a swift shot over Carey Price’s stick. With the goal, Kucherov joins Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis, and Brian Bradley as the only members of the Lightning to score 40 or more goals in a season.
The soft-spoken winger has been building to this since he joined the organization. Drafted in the second round of the Lightning’s historic 2011 draft, Kucherov spent two years in the QMJHL before joining the Syracuse Crunch in 2013-14.