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Even NHL All-Stars were taking their hats off to Nikita Kucherov

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov may have snapped out of a goal slump with a hat trick , capped by a trick shot, that was the talk of the NHL All-Star Game Sunday at Amalie Arena.
 
Published Jan. 29, 2018|Updated Jan. 29, 2018

TAMPA -– Nikita Kucherov had an awful time in the passing challenge of NHL All-Star Weekend, taking what seemed like forever to complete the three-puck-handling disciplines.

Enter Steven Stamkos, his teammate and captain, who knew the highly competitive Kucherov was disappointed by his performance in Saturday's skills competition.

"I said, 'Don't sweat it. Have a good game tomorrow. Score some nice goals, and that's all everyone's going to talk about,'" Stamkos said, "and they will, especially that third one."

That third one, where Kucherov breaks in on the goalie and fakes as if he's pushing the puck to his backhand while letting it slowly slide into the net, completed his hat trick Sunday afternoon at Amalie Arena. And it left the rest of the league's all-stars talking.

John Tavares of the Islanders: "Pretty special move. He made it look pretty easy."

Noah Hanifin of the Hurricanes: "He's one of the best players in the league, and his skill is off the chart."

Aleksander Barkov of the Panthers: "I'll try (the move), but I'm sure I'm not going to score."

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Kucherov's three goals and one from Lightning teammate Brayden Point were the highlights of the Atlantic Division's 7-4 win in a semifinal game of the 3-on-3 All-Star tournament. All three Lightning skaters, Stamkos included, where held goalless in the 5-2 loss to the Pacific Division in the finale.

Kucherov, who leads the NHL in scoring with 64 points, hasn't had a goal in his last seven regular-season games and only two in his past 10. He talked Saturday about how frustrated he is with the drought.

He talked Sunday night about how he felt his confidence returning during his big game while facing goalies Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers and Braden Holtby of the Capitals.

"When you don't score for a little while you start thinking a little too much," Kucherov said. "You get frustrated. For me to get the goals back it builds my self-confidence. Definitely when you score goals you feel better."

Fans celebrated with hockey's time-honored tradition of tossing hats on the ice.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who coached the Atlantic squad, encouraged the players on the bench to do the same with their helmets.

Kucherov appreciated the tribute from his coach.

"Definitely cool to see the hats flying," Kucherov said.

Cooper appreciated the effort from his top scorer.

"He's a magical player," Cooper said. "He used that move once last year in a shootout against Buffalo, and I wasn't sure we were going to see it again. That was in a shootout when he had time to think about it. This time he didn't really have time to think about it, and he still pulled it off. That's what these games are, to showcase talent and the boy showcased it tonight."

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The goal Stamkos said everyone will be talking about occurred in the second of the two 10-minute periods. It came against Holtby, who said he saw Kucherov score that way in that game at Buffalo.

"When we play them during the year that's always in your mind, you think of it come shootout," Holtby said. "You've seen it. But in a game like this, you have a pretty quick reaction. Kucherov on a breakaway. He's got a lot of skill. He surprised me. It's a great move. I was saying that after, he's one of those players who thinks like a goalie. It's scary when guys think that way."

Contact Roger Mooney at rmooney@tampabay.co. follow rmooney50