The Tampa Bay Lightning have wrapped up a strong month of December and their 2024 half of the schedule is complete. They finished the month with an 8-3-0 record, bouncing back from a lackluster 5-6-2 November.
During the stellar month, three members of the staff stood out above the rest. Without further ado, here are the Lightning’s three stars of the month. The list will go in ascending order just like how it’s done at the games following a win.
Third Star – Nikita Kucherov
The Hart Trophy finalist from last season earns himself a spot on the list this month after being absent in November. Nikita Kucherov put up five goals and 15 assists for 20 points in 10 games. A two-point pace in the month got him to 54 points in 32 games. That’s a season-long pace of 135 points – not too far off from the Art Ross-winning 144 points he had last season.
He had eight points on the power play, and he had the game-winning goal against the Florida Panthers – the first goal of the game in a shutout – on Dec. 23.
Kucherov’s standout game came in the Lightning’s 8-3 pouncing of the Calgary Flames on Dec. 12. He had a goal and five assists for a season-high six points. It was the first time he had four points in a game since opening night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Second Star – Brayden Point
Brayden Point is the lone player from last month to be one of the three stars again in December. He found a way to outdo Kucherov’s two-point pace. He had seven goals and 15 assists for 22 points. Those couple extra goals, plus an extra game-winner, put him over the top to be the second star over Kucherov. Point picked up nine of his 22 points on the power play.
Point has two nominees for a standout game in December. The first came in the Lightning’s 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 8, when he had two goals and two assists for four points. Another came in the win over the Flames where he also had a goal and three assists for four points. Since Point was the first star of the Canucks win versus the third star in the Flames win, we’ll consider that a fitting tiebreaker.
His strong month has him at 23 goals heading into the new year. That has him tied for second in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs’ William Nylander and the Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov. He only trails the Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl by four goals. The Rocket Richard Trophy is within reach if he keeps this up.
First Star – Andrei Vasilevskiy
This month saw the Lightning’s star goalie look more in character than we had seen in some time. Andrei Vasilevskiy started eight of the 11 games in December and posted a .925 save percentage (SV%). For comparison, he had a .911 SV% in October and a .903 SV% in November.
He had three games where he made at least 30 saves and one where he saved over 40. That came in his final start of the month when he stopped 42 of 44 in the Lightning’s 6-2 win over the New York Rangers on Dec. 28.
The further he gets away from his back injury, the more he’s returned to form. The Lightning are getting a major test in January with a schedule that features the Los Angeles Kings twice, Boston Bruins twice, New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs. If he keeps this up during this stretch, he’ll be putting the NHL on notice again.
The Lightning will get the 2025 portion of their schedule started when they head west to take on the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 2. Puck drop is at 10:30 p.m. EST. Perhaps someone will make a case to be one of the three stars for January out of the gate.
