The first ten minutes of game two of the Stanley Cup Final showed the Stars coming at star player Nikita Kucherov in a way we’ve seen many teams attempt before. Rumored to be playing injured, the opening frame saw a convalescing Kucherov get blindsided, hit in the face by a player’s stick, and whipped into the boards with punishing velocity. The hope in this situation, for any Dallas Stars patron, is that you get inside his head and make him mad. Throw him off his game, get him to make mistakes and take penalties. Let’s just say teams in the future should probably use a different technique when it comes to Kucherov.
Kuch, as the Lightning faithful have dubbed him, is no stranger to this strategy. As a player who combines intense emotion with ridiculous skill, he’s used to being public enemy number one. Throughout the playoffs, he has been targeted a number of times, and with comedic immediacy, he makes his opponents pay. He has shown time and time again that he thrives under adversity, yet teams inexplicably continue to bring this side out of him.
Let’s use his most recent outing against Dallas on Monday night to illustrate Kucherov’s dominance. The early stages of game two showed him making uncharacteristic mistakes. Multiple turnovers were committed and his pace appeared sluggish, relative to his norm. The Stars, being the pesky type, tried to capitalize on his early afflictions and send him deeper into a rabbit hole. He would eventually become visibly shaken up after the third malicious encounter of the period where he was whipped into the boards. He went to the locker room for medical attention and re-emerged with a chip on his shoulder.
Again, the immediacy of this phenomenon is striking. He came back out of the locker room and orchestrated two masterful power-plays in a row. He picked up the primary assists on the two goals scored by the Lightning, looking like he was reveling in what the Stars were trying to do to him.
In the Boston vs. Tampa Bay series, Kucherov was taken out of the series-clinching game because of an injury. The Lightning were able clinch the series and move on in spite of losing the former MVP, but retribution was on his mind nonetheless. This occasion’s recipient was the upstart New York Islanders. He would notch five points in game one in what can only be thought of for the typical player as an injury-hobbled game. Not for Kuch though, he uses it as fuel.
It should come as no surprise that the defending Hart Trophy winner can dominate games. What’s so otherworldly about him is his ability to treat adversity like a stepping stone. Take for example December of 2019 when the Lightning were playing the Ottawa Senators. Coach Jon Cooper benched Kucherov for the third period after he had committed multiple costly turnovers and portrayed a lack of effort on defense.
Teammate Patrick Maroon had high praise for him after being able to look back at this incident a week later, “Kuch is one of the best players in the league, and unfortunately best players make mistakes, and best players get benched. The cool thing about Kuch is he manned up and he dealt with it, and look what he’s been doing after it. Kuch is a big part of this group, he’s a leader of this group.” He scored five points in the next three games. Typical.
You can only hope to contain players of his caliber. The Star’s hope for containment is fleeting however, because Kucherov has yet again found a way to enhance his play in the face of adversity. Now we wait to see the Stars’ strategy going forward for what should be a focal point: containing Nikita Kucherov. Maybe we’ll witness a friendly, sportsmanlike approach from the Stars in game three. He would probably find a way to get mad about that too.
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