Steven Stamkos — who needs him?
Not the Tampa Bay Lightning, at least not presently, with the way Nikita Kucherov, Jonathan Drouin and Tyler Johnson are filling the scoring shoes of their injured captain. The trio led a lethal power play Tuesday that produced all three Tampa goals in a 3-2 win in Game 4 of their first-round matchup against the Detroit Red Wings.
Now, they've got a 3-1 stranglehold on the best-of-seven series in spite of Stamkos' absence, which was supposed to doom the defending Eastern Conference champs.
Instead, it's invigorated them.
Kucherov himself accounted for two of the goals, scored in the first and second periods to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead.