The National Hockey League’s west coast swing through California used to be a murderer’s row road trip through Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose. The three teams no longer present the same sort of challenge they did in the 2010’s and came up on the Tampa Bay Lightning’s schedule just in time this year.
Not only have the Lightning been just an average team through the early going, but it has been a struggle to get some of the top players going outside of Steven Stamkos.
With question marks around the top line coming into the season, this west coast trip has provided a lot of answers as the trio of Brandon Hagel, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov have really heated up over the last three games.
Not only did they provide the game winning goal in both of the wins on the trip, but they also combined for 10 points across the three games.
The best connection of them all came Saturday afternoon in San Jose as all three members of the line connected on a brilliant passing sequence for the game winning goal in the final minute.
CLUTCH. KUCH. 🥶
Nikita Kucherov ices the game for the @TBLightning in the final minute of regulation. pic.twitter.com/xGa31Nrwat
— NHL (@NHL) October 29, 2022
Prior to the road trip, Kucherov did not have a goal yet on the season. He was still averaging over an assist per game, so he was still quietly contributing.
Over the three-game trip, Kucherov recorded goals in all three games. He will always get his points but when he is able to produce on the level that he can in the goal department, this line will start being talked about amongst the best in the NHL.
