Nikita Kucherov and the Tampa Bay Lightning are taking their incredible roll right into the new year.
The Lightning on Monday won their sixth straight game and finished the month unbeaten in regulation after a 2-1 overtime victory against the Anaheim Ducks.
They went 12-0-1 last month and are the eighth NHL team in the past 10 years to finish a calendar month without a regulation loss after playing a minimum of eight games.
Photo: AFP
Tampa Bay head into this year on a 14-0-1 run and with a league-high 64 points. The Lightning are 17-1-1 over their past 19 games.
“When you’re hot, you’re hot, and it seems like everyone is getting hot at the same time,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “You have to take advantage when times like this happen.”
Kucherov had a goal and an assist for his ninth multi-point game in the month. Kucherov and Steven Stamkos are the first set of teammates to combine for 50 or more points in a calendar month since March 2001 when four pairs — three of which were combinations from Pittsburgh — accomplished the feat.
Kucherov and Stamkos combined for 23 goals and 28 assists last month.
“To think, especially in this era where there is a lot of tight checking and low-scoring games, to accumulate those types of points, it’s what those guys do,” Cooper said.
Brayden Point scored 35 seconds into overtime when he took a pass from Kucherov near the blue line.
Point skated into the zone, chipped the puck over the stick of Anaheim’s Brandon Montour and cut to the net, where he beat goalie John Gibson with a backhand.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots for his 100th NHL victory.
Nick Ritchie scored Anaheim’s lone goal and Gibson made 33 saves.
The Ducks have earned one point in each of their past two games, but are winless in their past six.
They go into this year as the first wild card in the Western Conference, but are just one point ahead of Dallas and three in front of Vancouver.
“We’re in a bit of a skid at the moment,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said. “We know what kind of group we have here. We need to get ready and get one again in January.”
Kucherov, who has a goal in four straight games, opened the scoring at 6 minutes, 6 seconds of the first period when he finished off a tic-tac-toe passing setup from Erik Cernak and Point with a shot that beat Gibson on his glove side. It was his ninth goal in the month.
Ritchie evened it with 2:52 remaining in the period when he got a pass from Ondrej Kase and beat Vasilevskiy from point-blank range.
“With the long travel day and early start it looked like we were in quicksand a little bit. Anaheim was on us. We managed the puck and the game well from the second period on,” Cooper said.
Also on Monday, it was:
‧ Devils 4, Canucks 0
‧ Kings 3, Avalanche 2, OT
‧ Canadiens 3, Stars 2, OT
‧ Flames 8, Sharks 5
‧ Islanders 3, Sabres 1
‧ Predators 6, Capitals 3
‧ Hurricanes 3, Flyers 1
‧ Penguins 3, Wild 2
‧ Rangers 2, Blues 1
‧ Blue Jackets 6, Senators 3
‧ Panthers 4, Red Wings 3, SO
‧ Jets 4, Oilers 3
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two