When Nikita Kucherov glided down the ice and snapped a shot past Ivan Fedotov last night, he recorded his 29th goal of the season. When he scores his next one, he’ll join Jake Guentzel (33), Brayden Point (32), and Brandon Hagel (31) in the 30-goal club, giving the Lightning a league-leading four members. It’ll also match the most 30 goal-scorers in a season, which they set back in 2022-23 when Kucherov had 30, Point had 51, Hagel had 30, and Steven Stamkos had 34.
There is an outside chance that they could set the record with five players, but Anthony Cirelli (22) or Nick Paul (20) would have to go on a heck of a heater to end the season.