Nikita Kucherov becomes 3rd-fastest active player to reach 1,000 points in Lightning's 4-3 win vs. Ducks

Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times on Oct 25, 2025

Published in Hockey

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TAMPA, Fla. — If the Lightning are going to dig themselves out from their worst start in franchise history, Nikita Kucherov will have a lot to do with it.

When things start to go bad — as they have for the Lightning in the first two-plus weeks of the season — the burden falls on your best players.

But Saturday’s 4-3 win against the Ducks was a reminder that the Lightning still have one of the most prolific playmakers to ever take the ice on their side.

Kucherov has struggled to start the season, but his secondary assist on the Lightning’s go-ahead goal in the second period gave him 1,000 career points. Kucherov is the second player in Lightning history to reach the milestone, joining Steven Stamkos.

Kucherov reached the mark in his 809th career game, becoming the third-fastest active player to reach 1,000 points, behind only Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (659 games) and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (757).

He’s also the 17th fastest to 1,000 points in NHL history, ahead of such names as Joe Sakic (810), Brett Hull (815) and Nathan MacKinnon (856).

Kucherov also became the fastest Russian-born player to reach 1,000, achieving the milestone faster than Evgeny Malkin (848) and all-time leading goal scorer Alexander Ovechkin (880).

On Kucherov’s historic point, he crossed the blue line along the right side and made a cross-ice pass through traffic to Brayden Point, who sent the puck from the lower left circle to the far post, where Jake Guentzel tapped it in for his second goal of the night and a 2-1 lead with 7:41 left in the second period.

After the goal, Guentzel was the first to give Kucherov a hug, followed by longtime teammates Victor Hedman and Point, and play was stopped momentarily as Lightning players jumped over the boards to celebrate with Kucherov, who then acknowledged the crowd with a short lap around the ice.

Given where the Lightning were coming into the night, having lost six of their first seven games and all three previous games at home, the goal injected much-needed life into the team.

But point No. 1,001 was more important for the Lightning’s fortunes. Kucherov, set up in a different spot on the left side on the Lightning’s top power-play unit, found Anthony Cirelli in the bumper position for the winning goal and Cirelli’s second score of the game.

The Lightning’s two-goal, third-period lead didn’t last. Anaheim’s Ross Johnston gathered a puck that skipped into the air off Ryan McDonagh’s stick and found Ryan Poehling for an open back post to make it 3-2 at the 7:11 mark in the third.

And 59 seconds later, the Ducks tied the score when Cutter Gauthier retrieved his own rebound into the corner and sent a centering pass toward the front of the net. The puck went off Brandon Hagel’s stick and to Troy Terry, who scored the equalizer.

Hedman had the secondary assist on Cirelli’s final goal, making him the third active defenseman to record 800 career points, joining Brent Burns (914 points) and Erik Karlsson (875), Hedman’s good friend and fellow Swede.