Kucherov providing boost for Lightning heading into second round

Nikita Kucherov said he feels healthy, comfortable and confident as the Tampa Bay Lightning forward prepares to face another opponent for the first time this season.

The Kucherov effect has already proven to be one of the best things the Lightning have going for them in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It could be their biggest advantage in the Stanley Cup Second Round against the Carolina Hurricanes beginning with Game 1 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS).
"Yep, that's the X-factor there," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "He's not only one of the best, talented players, he's certainly close to it, and he's probably the freshest guy in the League, you know. You add those couple factors, it doesn't bode well. But hey, it's part of it. It's a huge weapon that they hadn't had that we're definitely going to have to be aware of."
The Florida Panthers were aware of the same thing heading into the first round.
Kucherov missed the regular season recovering from hip surgery he had on Dec. 29, meaning the Panthers hadn't faced the Lightning with Kucherov's game-changing skill and hockey IQ as part of their game plan, particularly on the power play.
The difference was obvious.
Kucherov scored two goals and had an assist in a 5-4 win in Game 1. He scored four points (one goal, three assists) in a 6-2 win in Game 4. He scored 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in the series, including seven points (three goals, four assists) on the power play operating out of the right circle.
"It took a few games for me to adjust to the speed and physically adjust to the game, but after two games I felt normal, I felt like how I would feel during the season and didn't have any issues," Kucherov said.

Kucherov's ability to read and react on the power play afforded him the time to get up to speed with the rest of the game because he was still impactful.
"The power play is huge, and when you get a goal or an assist it gives you a little boost and a little confidence," Kucherov said. "You start feeling a little more comfortable in the game and more loose."
The Lightning weren't surprised that he had an instant impact after not playing for more than seven months.
"He's one of the best players in the world so we knew he was going to be good coming back," forward Brayden Point said. "'Kuch' sees the ice so well and he gets you the puck in such good spots that it's easy to play with him."
The advantage for the Hurricanes is they have game film of Kucherov from this season.
They can study his tendencies without having to look back at last season. They can see how the Lightning players were reading and reacting off of him last week as opposed to last year. They can see what the Panthers were doing to try to counter, and what Kucherov did to take advantage.
The Hurricanes can adjust for Game 1 as opposed seeing it first and adjusting after. The Panthers couldn't.
"I think the scope of this whole thing is he's a really good player so you're just inserting a really good player in regardless of what you can see or not," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "If video tape alone stopped everybody than nobody would have any points in this league, so you can get a picture of where they're at but he's a special player."
The Hurricanes have ideas for what they need to do to stop Kucherov.
"The biggest thing is just trying to react to him and try to be as patient as possible," goalie Alex Nedeljkovic said. "He's going to throw different things at you."
Said forward Jordan Staal, "Just like any elite player, you just try to take away their time and space the best you can. … A player like that, it's all time and space and not creating turnovers and making him play defense."
The Panthers had similar ideas, but prior to Game 1 they hadn't faced Kucherov in a game since Dec. 23, 2019.
The Hurricanes haven't seen him since Jan. 5, 2020.
"It's one thing to watch it on tape," Lightning forward Steven Stamkos said, "it's another thing to try to go out there and execute to stop it when a player is that smart and ahead of most players on the ice in terms of what he's thinking."
NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this story