The New York Rangers need to give their fans hope and prove they still have a chance to make the postseason. The Rangers' gap currently sits at six points, and the Blueshirts first chance to give their fans more hope is by taking down the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.
In order to garner a will, they will need to shut down the great offensive talent on ice that is Nikita Kucherov during the April 7th matchup.
Nikita Kucherov
The Tampa Bay right wing is currently the team leader with a monstrous 112 points, off of a whopping 79 assists and 33 goals. His 112 points also put him in the No. 2 spot on the 2024-25 NHL stat leaders so far this year — behind only Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon with 115 points.
Kucherov has become one of the most dangerous offensive players in the NHL. He had his first 30-goal season in 2015-16, bumped that up to 40 goals in 2016-17, then finished third in the NHL in scoring in 2017-18 with 100 points (39 goals, 61 assists), helping the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Atlantic Division. But those were just a prelude to 2018-19, when he led the NHL with 128 points (41 goals, 87 assists), setting a single-season record for points by a player born in Russia.
He also led all players in scoring during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs with 34 points.
Most recently the Maykop, Russian native reached the 700-point milestone in his 621st NHL game with a goal and an assist in a 7-3 loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 26, 2023. Additionally Kucherov became the fifth player in NHL history, and the second of the 2023-24 season, to have 100 assists in a season when he set up Brayden Point's power-play goal at 17:05 of the second period in a 6-4 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Amalie Arena on April 17, 2024
He was originally a second-round pick (No. 58) by the Lightning in the 2011 NHL Draft.
Though, Kucherov does lack some in size; he stands at 6'0" and weighs only 180 pounds. With the news announced Monday morning that budding young enforcer Matt Rempe (6'9", 255 pounds) will be back in for the Rangers, maybe the Blueshirts putting up some physicality against Kucherov will help shut him out.
#NYR Matt Rempe is in today vs. Lightning, per Peter Laviolette.
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) April 7, 2025
K’Andre Miller is a game-time decision and Igor Shesterkin is in goal.
How to Tune In
Blueshirt fans can tune in and watch the Blueshirts attempt to gain more traction in the hunt for a Wild Card and shut out Kucherov with a 7:00 p.m. EST puck drop at Madison Square Garden. The matchup is available for streaming via ESPN+ and Fubo, additionally be sure to tune into ourTwitter for live updates.