Throughout most of the National Hockey League (NHL) season ) Nikita Kucherov was the sole leader of the scorer standings. Nathan MacKinnon remained his main competitor in the fight for the Art Ross Trophy. The Canadian forward of the Colorado Avalanche kept pressing on the heels of the Russian star of the Tampa Bay Lightning, but at one point Kucherov seemed to have broken away.
However, MacKinnon won it back. And it cannot be said that Nikita stalled. The Russian extends his personal scoring streak from match to match, but MacKinnon also does not stand still. The Canadian has improved noticeably, over the last week he was able to take the lead and create an advantage for himself in the pursuit of the title of top scorer of the season. Another representative of the Country of the Maple Leaf did not stand aside either. Connor McDavid has been outside the top 100 most productive players in the regular season for quite a long time since the start of the championship, but as the season progressed he reminded everyone why he is the best hockey player in the world. Many didn’t even have time to blink an eye when McDavid burst into the top three of the championship leaders. In the end, the Canadian practically caught up with Kucherov, coming very close to the Russian.
That’s why the reaction of Nikita himself, whose Tampa team is still deciding on its participation in the playoffs, was interesting. She exceeded all expectations.
In a match against one of the championship leaders, the New York Rangers, Kucherov turned on beast mode and did everything to bring his team an important victory. The Blue Shirts' goal, defended by Igor Shesterkin, saw as many as six goals. Five of them did not happen without the participation of the Russian leader of the Lightning. Nikita made an assist poker and finished the game with a goal into an empty net.
With this, Kuch reached and surpassed 70 assists in a season for the third time in his career. The Russian also played his sixth match with five points per game. This is fourth among all active NHL players. Stars such as Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand and Leon Draisaitl have the same amount. Only Connor McDavid (11), Evgeni Malkin (8) and Nathan MacKinnon (7) have more.
Now the situation in the scoring standings for the current NHL season is as follows:
Colorado, Tampa and Edmonton have 15, 16 and 18 more matches to play, respectively, before the end of the championship. Quite a long period, during which the position among the main contenders for the Art Ross Trophy will change more than once. The intrigue is alive.