NHL Three Stars: Kucherov’s 2 goal game leads Bolts’ comeback
No. 1 Star: Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Kucherov hadn’t scored a goal in the first four games against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He decided to makeup for lost time by hitting the back of the net twice in Game 5. Both goals came when the Lightning were down by one and tied the game. He also assisted on overtime game winner.
No. 2 Star: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
This 21-year-old netminder picked up his second straight playoff win in Tampa’s 4-3 overtime victory. He allowed 3 goals on 34 shots by the Penguins.
No. 3 Star: Jason Garrison, Tampa Bay Lightning
A brief 53 seconds into overtime, Garrison took a wrist shot that deflected off the backside of Tyler Johnson and deflected into the net. Although the goal was credited to Johnson, Garrison did the heavy lifting to secure the win.
Honorable Mention: The original Triplets Line of Johnson, Kucherov, and Ondrej Palat combined for 3 goals and 3 assists. Tampa was credited with 25 shots on goal, 22 attempts-blocked, and 9 missed shots for a total of 56 shot attempts in the game. Chris Kunitz had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh. Tom Kuhnhackl had a game high 8 hits for the Penguins. Right behind him with 7 hits was Eric Fehr. He absolutely crushed Jonathan Drouin early in the game:
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Dishonorable Mention: Kris Letang was a minus-4 with 3 giveaways. With the HBK in the arena, the HBK line didn’t do so well. Only Carl Hagelin had a point in the game on a Patrik Hornqvist goal.
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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter! Follow @MsJenNeale_PD.
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