Lightning’s Gage Goncalves drops ultimate Nikita Kucherov praise after 1,100th point

Nikita Kucherov continues to establish himself as one of the NHL’s all-time greats, and the Tampa Bay Lightning superstar was the catalyst of a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at Benchmark International Arena on Thursday night.

The Russian recorded two assists in the win, in the process becoming the 14th player born outside of North America to score 1,100 points, and the fourth fastest after Peter Stastny (793 games), Jari Kurri (824 games) and Jaromir Jagr (825 games), per NHL.com’s Corey Long.

“I mean he probably doesn’t get the recognition he deserves,” forward Gage Goncalves, who scored twice in the game, said afterwards. “He’s the best player in the League.”

Kucherov is up to a ridiculous 106 points in just 60 games in 2025-26, which is third in league scoring behind only Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon. He’s also tops in the NHL in points per game at 1.77.

It took the 32-year-old just 863 games to reach 1,100 points (391 goals, 709 assists), and the two-time Stanley Cup champion continues to be the engine that drives the Bolts after being selected 58th overall by the franchise in the 2011 NHL Draft.

Goncalves and Jake Guentzel each scored twice for Tampa Bay on home ice, while Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves in the triumph. He became just the second goaltender in NHL history to record nine consecutive 30-win seasons, behind only Martin Brodeur, who did it 12 times between 1995-96 and 2007-08, per Long.

“It was by no means a perfect game, but there were a lot of things to take from it besides the two points,” head coach Jon Cooper said afterwards. “We played with much more emotion. We skated better. We were decent at getting the puck out of our own end. We were better.”

It’s been a tough stretch for the Lightning, who had lost two in a row and six of seven before the key all-Atlantic Division victory. Now 40-20-4 and two points behind the Buffalo Sabres for tops in the division, they’ll look to right the ship over their final 18 games of the regular-season.

Up next is a visit to Carolina to play the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes on Saturday night.

The post Lightning’s Gage Goncalves drops ultimate Nikita Kucherov praise after 1,100th point appeared first on ClutchPoints.