TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov became the fifth player to have a 100-assist season as the Lightning beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4 on Wednesday night.
Kucherov, the NHL’s scoring leader with 144 points, scored a first-period goal, then set up Brayden Point’s power-play tally with 2:55 left in the second for the historic assist.
“It’s a special moment,” Kucherov said. “Thanks to my teammates and coaching staff for putting me in position to have success. I’m fortunate to play with great players.”
The NHL ended up with two players breaking the 100-assist mark in the same season after going 32 seasons without one. Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid notched his 100th assist this season against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night, becoming just the fourth player in NHL history to hit triple digits for assists.
“It’s incredible … the fifth time and two are this year. It’s remarkable,” Point said. “Just watching Kuch every day and seeing how he works, it’s an amazing number, but it’s not surprising with how hard and how smart he works.”
Hockey Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr are the only other NHL players to eclipse 100 assists in a season.
Orr did it once, becoming the first NHL player to achieve the feat in 1970-71. Lemieux also hit the mark once, in 1988-89. Gretzky topped 100 assists in a season 11 times and is the all-time NHL leader in career assists with 1,963. Gretzky was the last player before McDavid to have 100 assists, in the 1990-91 season.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
