Nikita Kucherov breaks his own Lightning single-season record with 129th point

Congrats, Nikita Kucherov. You’ve caught Nikita Kucherov.

The Tampa Bay Lightning superstar right winger assisted on goals in the first and second period of Wednesday night’s road game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. In doing so, Kucherov collected points No. 128 and 129 of his 2023-24 campaign and established a collection of milestones in the process.

First: with 129 points, Kucherov, 30, broke his own franchise record for points in a single season. He had 128 in the 2018-19 season, during which he won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top scorer and also the Hart Trophy as MVP.

Secondly: the two assists upped his season total to 87, which tied his own single-season franchise record for assists, established in that 2018-19 campaign.

Thirdly: by crossing the 129-point threshold, Kucherov now has the second-highest total of the salary-cap era behind only Connor McDavid’s 153 points last season – and the second-highest total since the 1995-96 season.

Kucherov’s 2023-24 total won’t stop at 129 given the Bolts still have seven games left on the schedule. The Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid also entered Wednesday’s action with 126 points, while the Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon, idle on Wednesday, sits at 127 points.

Kucherov, whose future Hall of Fame resume includes a Hart, Art Ross, two Stanley Cups and two First-Team All-Star selections, isn’t just making waves on Tampa’s single-season leaderboard. He’s up to fourth on the franchise’s all-time goals list with 318; fourth in assists with 540; and fourth in points with 858. He has three seasons left with the Bolts after this one on his current contract, carrying a $9.5 million cap hit.