TAMPA www.officialcoyotes.com , Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov is keeping exceptional company in the NHL record book — the kind of crowd that could fill out a wing at the Hall of Fame.Kucherov became the fastest player to 100 points in a season since Mario Lemieux, and he and Steven Stamkos scored in the shootout to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning over the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Thursday night.Kucherov finished a 2-on-1 with Tyler Johnson for his 30th goal in the second period, getting to the 100-point mark in 62 games — one more than it took Lemieux in 1996-97. It’s just the sixth time since 1993-94 a player has scored 100-or-more points in 62-or-fewer games, joining Lemieux in 1995-96 and 96-97, Jaromir Jagr in 1995-96, Ron Francis in 1995-96 and Wayne Gretzky in 1993-94.“That was a special moment,” Kucherov said.The only other Lightning players to reach 100 points in a season were Vincent Lecavalier (108 points) and Martin St. Louis (102) — this is Kucherov’s second straight season at that marker. He’s the first player in franchise history to record consecutive 100-point seasons and just the seventh player to do so in the past 20 seasons.The 25-year-old Kucherov is also the fourth Russian-born player to get there, matching Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Bure.“He’s a remarkable player, and he’s having an amazing season Arizona Coyotes T-Shirts Authentic ,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.Kucherov has at least 30 goals in four straight seasons.“I think I quit getting impressed at the start of the year,” Johnson said. “It’s just expected now.”The Lightning won their eighth consecutive game and picked up a point in their 12th consecutive game. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 29 saves as Tampa Bay reached 98 points on the season.Carter Hutton stopped 39 shots for Buffalo.Tampa Bay needed Kucherov’s contributions on Thursday to push past a desperate Buffalo team looking to stay in the playoff picture. Since ending a 10-game winning streak in Tampa on Nov. 29, the Sabres have won just 11 games and have fallen six points back of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with 21 games left.The Sabres held their own against the league-leading Lightning, grabbing a 1-0 lead on Rasmus Dahlin’s goal with 1:47 left in the first period after firing 17 shots on goal.“I just liked the desperation, emergency and the emotion that we brought to the game,” Buffalo coach Phil Housely said. “Guys were playing for each other. We played really solid tonight against a talented hockey team.”Stamkos notched the deciding goal in the shootout, and Kucherov clinched it in the third round.Tampa Bay is the fifth team in the past 40 years to record two points streaks of at least 12 games in the same season.NOTES: Lightning D Victor Hedman returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday’s game at Philadelphia with a lower-body injury. … Buffalo G Linus Ullmark was originally scheduled to start but the team said he suffered a minor injury during the morning skate but was available to dress as the backup. Housely said Ullmark will be evaluated on Friday but didn’t think the situation was long term. …Tampa Bay allowed the opening goal of the game for the first time in seven games. … Buffalo D Matt Hunwick returned after missing one game with lower-body injury. … The Lightning have allowed two-or-fewer goals in five consecutive games.UP NEXTLightning: Host Los Angeles on Monday.Sabres: Host Washington on Saturday. WASHINGTON (AP) Nashville Predators players stood around the locker room after beating the Washington Capitals 4-3, huddled around cellphones watching and rooting for more franchise history.Seconds after the Boston Bruins lost to the Florida Panthers in regulation on Thursday night, Mattias Ekholm yelled out, ”Yeah boys!” as teammates high-fived to celebrate the first Presidents’ Trophy in the team’s 19-year history.A year after the Predators made an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final as the eighth seed in the Western Conference Arizona Coyotes Hoodies Authentic , they’ve clinched home ice throughout the playoffs as the top team in the NHL during the regular season.The road to the Cup now runs through Nashville.”It’s a pretty good night for us,” captain Roman Josi said. ”Obviously the big goal for every team is to win the Stanley Cup, but you can’t win the Stanley Cup right now. It was something we took a lot of pride in, and I think it’s a big accomplishment for us.”Josi, who scored a power-play goal in the clincher, said he and fellow Predators players looked at the rafters of other buildings this season and wanted to earn more than just the one ”Western Conference Champions 2016-17” banner that currently hangs in Bridgestone Arena.They accomplished that in Washington thanks to two goals from Craig Smith, a game-winner from Ryan Johansen and 29 saves from backup goaltender Juuse Saros, setting a franchise record with 52 wins in the process.”It’s always just been about home ice and trying to stay in our building, give ourselves the best chance to be successful in the playoffs,” coach Peter Laviolette said. ”With that Arizona Coyotes Hats Authentic , those things happen. You end up winning a division, a conference and first place in the league.”David Poile, who has been general manager since the franchise’s inception, shook hands and congratulated each player as he walked out of the locker room.While Laviolette and his staff watched the end of the Bruins-Panthers game in the coaches’ office and players took it in on hockey operations manager Brandon Walker’s phone, Poile watched alone from the concourse on one of the prouder nights in Predators history.”We all have goals. That was part of it,” Poile said. ”It feels real good. When we get to a week from now and we start the playoffs, we’ll be moving on to something else, but I’m very proud of our franchise. This is the first time we’ve done it and it means a lot and I’m proud of everybody, all the effort that was put in all year.”It was almost poetic that the Predators won the Presidents’ Trophy by beating the Capitals, who won it the past two seasons and three times since 2010.Days after the five-year anniversary of his now-infamous trade from Washington to Nashville Custom Arizona Coyotes Jerseys , star winger Filip Forsberg remarked: ”We’ve seen especially here (in Washington) that the trophy doesn’t mean that much going forward. But I think just the home ice is going to be huge.”The Metropolitan Division-champion Capitals, who have home ice through at least the first two rounds, got two goals from Evgeny Kuznetsov, Alex Ovechkin’s league-leading 47th of the season and 25 saves from Philipp Grubauer in the loss.Washington could still face New Jersey, Philadelphia, Columbus or back-to-back defending Cup-champion Pittsburgh in the first round.”I like the way we’re playing,” said coach Barry Trotz, who was in Nashville for that franchise’s first 15 seasons and has Washington in the playoffs for the fourth time in four years. ”We’re playing with lots of speed, we’re playing with lots of pace, and that was a good test.”The Predators know there are more tests upcoming www.officialbruinsproonline.com , this time as the Cup favorite that won’t fly under the radar. But after going 9-2 at home on their run to the final a year ago, they assured themselves of more playoff hockey in Music City than on the road.”We learned what it was like to play at home in the playoffs,” defenseman Ryan Ellis said. ”To have the home ice is huge for our team.”NOTES: Smith’s two goals gave him a career-high 25. … Johansen scored the go-ahead goal with 5:27 left. … Kuznetsov has seven goals and 11 assists in his past 10 games. … Capitals F Alex Chiasson left the game with an illness. … Ovechkin was honored before the game for playing in 1,000 NHL regular-season games. In addition to the traditional silver stick and Tiffany crystal from the team and league, Ovechkin’s teammates got him and his wife a trip to Spain, presidential suite tickets to see FC Barcelona and a Lionel Messi jersey. … Rookie Eeli Tolvanen was a healthy scratch for the Predators after playing three games in a row.UP NEXTPredators: Return home after three-game road trip to face the Columbus Blue Jackets in each team’s season finale Saturday.Capitals: Host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday in a potential playoff preview.—
