Lightning's Nikita Kucherov: Carries offense in defeat

Kucherov scored a pair of goals on three shots in Thursday's 3-2 loss to Minnesota.

Kucherov scored his 19th and 20th goals of the season, the latter coming on the power play midway through the second period. Surprisingly, it was Kucherov's first goal with the man advantage since Dec. 23, a power play dry spell of 11 games. Kucherov has scored seven times in nine January games, including three goals in the last two games. The 26-year-old superstar has 52 points in 46 games.