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SUNRISE — Two games, two goals. That’s a problem, particularly for a roster that put more pucks in the back of the net than any team in the NHL during the regular season.
Now it’s true that scoring does not come as easily in the postseason, but a dropoff from 3.6 goals per game to 1.0 seems a tad worrisome.
Maybe you blame Florida’s defense, which has been smothering at times. Maybe you blame Tampa Bay’s misfortune, considering a handful of wide-open opportunities have inexplicably gone awry. Or maybe you just blame Nikita Kucherov.
That’s what often happens this time of year, you know. Everyone whispers that a team’s stars need to play like stars in big games. And, for a very long time now, Kucherov has not played like a star in the playoffs.
Kucherov has failed to score a goal in his last 12 postseason games. If you go back to the 2022 Stanley Cup final loss to Colorado, he has two goals in his last 19 playoff games.
Maybe not so coincidentally, the Lightning have gone 5-14 in those 19 games. They’ve also lost three consecutive series and are in danger of dropping a fourth if they do not dig themselves out of the 0-2 hole they are in against the Panthers.
Is this Kucherov’s fault? Not entirely. But that business of stars-being-stars is not just a cliché.
Even when Edmonton lost to Florida in the Cup final last season, Connor McDavid had three goals in seven games. When Colorado lost to Dallas in the second round, Nathan MacKinnon had two goals in six games. Those are Kucherov’s peers. His comps. The guys who challenge for the scoring title and gather MVP votes most seasons.
When asked if Florida is doing anything special to keep Kucherov off the scoresheet, Lightning coach Jon Cooper didn’t exactly pounce on the question.
“No, I don’t think so. I mean, let’s be honest, nobody’s on the scoresheet,” he said. “We’ve scored two goals in two games and that’s not a recipe for success. And, like I said, it was unfortunate Game 1 was kind of just a weird game.
“But we defended well (in Game 2) and there weren’t a ton of opportunities either way to score. Not even for their guys, but they just happened to slip one by us and we couldn’t bury our chances. So if we keep playing those type of games, they’ll eventually go in. Both teams are defending and there’s not a lot of time and space out there, and that’s what you’re seeing.”
This storyline has existed for a number of years, going back to the 2019 first-round sweep by Columbus when Kucherov and Steven Stamkos were practically invisible. It’s not as if Kucherov has always struggled in postseason situations. He led the NHL in points in both the 2020 and 2021 playoffs, and had 21 goals in 43 games as far back as the 2015 and 2016 playoffs.
The problem is there is a tremendous disparity between when Kucherov is feeling it, and when he gets frustrated. In the 18 playoff series the Lightning have won during Kucherov’s time here, he has averaged a goal every 2.2 games. In the nine series Tampa Bay has lost, he has averaged a goal every 6.2 games.
In some ways, that makes sense. When the Lightning struggle to generate offense, they’re likely to lose. And the struggles have not been Kucherov’s alone. But he is a three-time scoring champion and the most gifted player in a Lightning uniform, and that means he’s supposed to be capable of carrying the team on his shoulders at times.
Teams that go out of their way to put bodies on Kucherov seem to have a better chance of disrupting Tampa Bay’s offense, and the Panthers learned that lesson last year when they held him without a goal.
In the opening minutes of Game 1 this season, they reinforced that idea when Matthew Tkachuk drilled Kucherov near the wall.
“It’s definitely a team effort,” Panthers center Evan Rodrigues said. “In the playoffs you get extra stingy. You finish more checks, you’re more hyper focused on the defensive side. During the regular season things can get a little loose. It’s hard to play 82 games at a 100% elite pace.
“When the playoffs hit, you focus on guys like that. He’s going to get his looks, he’s going to get his chances, you can’t necessarily stop a guy like that. But I think we’ve done a really good job as a team of just containing him and trying to keep him to the outside, not letting him feel comfortable. He’s a guy you obviously pay extra attention to.”
Kucherov is a future Hall of Famer. That seems pretty evident.
What happens in the next week against Florida will not dramatically change his reputation one way or another.
But if the Lightning have any hope of advancing past the first round for the first time since 2022, Kucherov is going to need to find the net.
EASTERN CONFERENCE, FIRST ROUND
Game 1: Panthers 6, Lightning 2
Thursday: Panthers 2, Lightning 0
Saturday: at Sunrise, 1, FanDuel Sports Sun, TBS, truTV
Monday: at Sunrise, 7, FanDuel Sports Sun, ESPN
Wednesday: at Amalie Arena, TBD*
May 2: at Sunrise, TBD*
May 4: at Amalie Arena, TBD*
*if necessary
• • •
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Now it’s true that scoring does not come as easily in the postseason, but a dropoff from 3.6 goals per game to 1.0 seems a tad worrisome.
Maybe you blame Florida’s defense, which has been smothering at times. Maybe you blame Tampa Bay’s misfortune, considering a handful of wide-open opportunities have inexplicably gone awry. Or maybe you just blame Nikita Kucherov.
That’s what often happens this time of year, you know. Everyone whispers that a team’s stars need to play like stars in big games. And, for a very long time now, Kucherov has not played like a star in the playoffs.
Kucherov has failed to score a goal in his last 12 postseason games. If you go back to the 2022 Stanley Cup final loss to Colorado, he has two goals in his last 19 playoff games.
Maybe not so coincidentally, the Lightning have gone 5-14 in those 19 games. They’ve also lost three consecutive series and are in danger of dropping a fourth if they do not dig themselves out of the 0-2 hole they are in against the Panthers.
Is this Kucherov’s fault? Not entirely. But that business of stars-being-stars is not just a cliché.
Even when Edmonton lost to Florida in the Cup final last season, Connor McDavid had three goals in seven games. When Colorado lost to Dallas in the second round, Nathan MacKinnon had two goals in six games. Those are Kucherov’s peers. His comps. The guys who challenge for the scoring title and gather MVP votes most seasons.
When asked if Florida is doing anything special to keep Kucherov off the scoresheet, Lightning coach Jon Cooper didn’t exactly pounce on the question.
“No, I don’t think so. I mean, let’s be honest, nobody’s on the scoresheet,” he said. “We’ve scored two goals in two games and that’s not a recipe for success. And, like I said, it was unfortunate Game 1 was kind of just a weird game.
“But we defended well (in Game 2) and there weren’t a ton of opportunities either way to score. Not even for their guys, but they just happened to slip one by us and we couldn’t bury our chances. So if we keep playing those type of games, they’ll eventually go in. Both teams are defending and there’s not a lot of time and space out there, and that’s what you’re seeing.”
This storyline has existed for a number of years, going back to the 2019 first-round sweep by Columbus when Kucherov and Steven Stamkos were practically invisible. It’s not as if Kucherov has always struggled in postseason situations. He led the NHL in points in both the 2020 and 2021 playoffs, and had 21 goals in 43 games as far back as the 2015 and 2016 playoffs.
The problem is there is a tremendous disparity between when Kucherov is feeling it, and when he gets frustrated. In the 18 playoff series the Lightning have won during Kucherov’s time here, he has averaged a goal every 2.2 games. In the nine series Tampa Bay has lost, he has averaged a goal every 6.2 games.
In some ways, that makes sense. When the Lightning struggle to generate offense, they’re likely to lose. And the struggles have not been Kucherov’s alone. But he is a three-time scoring champion and the most gifted player in a Lightning uniform, and that means he’s supposed to be capable of carrying the team on his shoulders at times.
Teams that go out of their way to put bodies on Kucherov seem to have a better chance of disrupting Tampa Bay’s offense, and the Panthers learned that lesson last year when they held him without a goal.
In the opening minutes of Game 1 this season, they reinforced that idea when Matthew Tkachuk drilled Kucherov near the wall.
“It’s definitely a team effort,” Panthers center Evan Rodrigues said. “In the playoffs you get extra stingy. You finish more checks, you’re more hyper focused on the defensive side. During the regular season things can get a little loose. It’s hard to play 82 games at a 100% elite pace.
“When the playoffs hit, you focus on guys like that. He’s going to get his looks, he’s going to get his chances, you can’t necessarily stop a guy like that. But I think we’ve done a really good job as a team of just containing him and trying to keep him to the outside, not letting him feel comfortable. He’s a guy you obviously pay extra attention to.”
Kucherov is a future Hall of Famer. That seems pretty evident.
What happens in the next week against Florida will not dramatically change his reputation one way or another.
But if the Lightning have any hope of advancing past the first round for the first time since 2022, Kucherov is going to need to find the net.
Panthers 2, Lightning 0
EASTERN CONFERENCE, FIRST ROUND
Game 1: Panthers 6, Lightning 2
Thursday: Panthers 2, Lightning 0
Saturday: at Sunrise, 1, FanDuel Sports Sun, TBS, truTV
Monday: at Sunrise, 7, FanDuel Sports Sun, ESPN
Wednesday: at Amalie Arena, TBD*
May 2: at Sunrise, TBD*
May 4: at Amalie Arena, TBD*
*if necessary
• • •
Sign up for the Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.
Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on X and Facebook.
Continue reading...
