Sunday, 4 a.m.
He is songs on the radio. He is drops in a rain forest. He is grains of sand on the beach.
He is Nikita Kucherov, and he deals in points.
Kucherov, the Lightning's creative forward, was at it again Saturday night. He had four assists in the Bolts' 5-2 win over Toronto, giving him a total of 100 points for the fourth straight season.
Too often, onlookers pay more atttention to goals than assists. But Kucherov is an artist, dealing the puck here, finding teammates in space throughout the game.
Kucherov, who had a slow start to the season, is now third in the NHL in points.
The Bolts gave up the first goal of the night, but then scored four straight in the rest of the first period. Ryan McDonaugh, Jake Guentzel, Corey Perry and Oliver Bjorkstrand all scored for the Bolts.
Perry scored in his first game upon his return to the Bolts. He has 12 goals on the season.
Brandon Hagel scored an empty-net goal to finish the scoring for Tampa Bay.
The win broke a four-game losing streak for Tampa Bay. Toronto now has lost seven straight.
Andre Vasilevskiy stopped 27 of 29 shots for his 29th win.
The Bolts play in Buffalo today at 6 p.m. at the Keybank Center.