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Nikita Kucherov and the Tampa Bay Lightning are set to face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. This will be a 6:00 PM ET kickoff.
Kucherov will be available to play tonight against the Penguins and is coming off a two-point game against the Detroit Red Wings last night. The Bolts won the match 3-0 thanks to goals from Brayden Pint, Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy had yet another shoutout due to his 45-save performance.
The Bolts are currently third in the competitive Atlantic Division with a 37-17-4 record. They are battling against the Maple Leafs for the second spot, but may be happy to stay in third place to evade the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs.
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The teams will be meeting for the second time this season. The Penguins won the last match 6-2. Sidney Crosby and company are coming off a 3-2 victory against the St. Louis Blues and will hope to keep up their form. They are fighting for the two Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference and every game is crucial for them.
Nikita Kucherov's NHL career
Nikita Kucherov was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the 2011 NHL entry draft as the 58th overall pick.
Kucherov is a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Bolts. They won it in two consecutive seasons (2019-2020 and 2020-21) and Kucherov was an integral part of the team's offense.
He signed an eight-year, $76,000,000 contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 10, 2018. The contract has a cap hit of $9,500,000.
He was awarded the Art Ross Trophy for his performances in 2018-19, when he led the league in points at the end of the regular season (128 points from 41 goals and 87 assists). He was also awarded the Ted Lindsay Award the same year for being voted the most outstanding player of the regular season by members of the NHL Players' Association.
He added the fourth silverware, the Hart Memorial Trophy, to his cabinet as well for being the most valuable player (MVP) in the 2018-2019 season.
In 620 career games, Nikita Kucherov has 699 points from 268 goals and 431 assists. Just this season, he has 83 points from 22 goals and 61 assists and is on pace to score 117 points, his second-best career figures.
