NEW YORK – The raspy voice of Steven Tyler singing an Aerosmith power ballad filled the Tampa Bay Lightning locker room, as the players removed their gear after practice at Madison Square Garden:

“Aaaaaaand I don’t wanna miss a thing …”

So what’s the accidental, narrative-framing meaning here?

That the Lightning’s late-season push back into the postseason picture is fueled by the burning desire not to miss the playoffs for the first time in four full seasons under Jon Cooper? Or that their injuries, plus their early season stumbles, plus the ground they need to make up have them headed for Armageddon?

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“The part that’s tough about this is that we don’t have any margin for error. If this had happened to the Capitals or the Penguins or Columbus or the Rangers, you weather through it because they’ve created a point cushion for themselves. We haven’t,” said Cooper.

Their lineup is missing Steven Stamkos, Ryan Callahan, Tyler Johnson and Cedric Paquette due to injury; and Ben Bishop, Valtteri Filppula and Brian Boyle due to casualty, of the cap variety.

“We’re not giving up. That’s not the message. It’s a business, and we get that. It’s tough to see those guys go, but we have to keep pushing,” said defenseman Victor Hedman. “The (AHL) Syracuse guys have been helping a lot. They’re a part of this team now. And everyone in this room has to up their game.”

Despite all this, the Lightning are three points out of the wild card and five points out of third in the Atlantic (with a game in-hand on the Boston Bruins). And while everyone from goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to the kids up from Syracuse have been pulling the rope, one guy has the rope over his shoulder, trying to drag this leaky vessel to the dock:

Nikita Kucherov, perhaps the NHL’s least talked-about but most deserving Hart Trophy candidate.

In 60 games, Kucherov is second only to Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (1.18) in points per game average with 1.12.

That’s better than Connor McDavid; and like McDavid, who is 19 points better than the Edmonton Oilers’ second-leading scorer, Kucherov is on another planet as a goal-scorer compared to his teammates: He’s scored 31, tied with Auston Matthews for seventh in the NHL.

He has 49 points in the Lightning’s 29 wins. His 55.23-percent Corsi is the best on the Lightning at 5-on-5 for any player with more than 20 games.

So … Hart candidate, if the Lightning make the cut?

“You’re asking the wrong guy,” said Cooper. “I know on this team he’s our Hart Trophy candidate. When we needed him most, which is this last stretch here of 15 games, we’ve jumped on his back. I’d be remiss to not mention Vasilevskiy, who’s also been great. But you talk about most valuable players to their team, especially down the stretch, that’s been Kuch.”

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In the Lightning’s last 16 games, Kucherov has 23 points. That includes 12 goals, seven of them coming on the power play.

Now, there’s this weird thing that happens in the NHL sometimes with goal-scorers where their stats are considered a little counterfeit if the goal totals are inflated by empty-net goals – which means they’re important enough to be on the ice in the most critical defensive sequence of the game – and by power-play goals.

Kucherov is tied with Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn for the NHL lead in power-play goals with 14. In the context of the season, that’s a lot. It also means he’s 35th in even-strength goals, while fellow Hart candidates like Sidney Crosby (23) and Patrick Kane (24) and Auston Matthews (and NHL best 26) are in the top 10 for EV goals.

Not that the Lightning really care how these pucks are going in, as long as they’re going in. He’s on pace to double his power-play output year-to-year.

“I like to shoot the puck,” said Kucherov. “I’m just getting there. Guys are making good plays.”

Kucherov’s deadly shot on the power play has been well-documented this season, including a hat trick that looked like the same replay played on a loop:

Kucherov put those Tesla Coils to WORK! pic.twitter.com/KtedmQqcBu — NHL (@NHL) February 28, 2017





Kucherov said he’s worked on his shot a lot in the last year, and continues to refine it. His coach said that it’s been a combination of the player’s improvement and the team’s deployment of him that’s made the difference.

Story continues