The Lightning forward had 144 points, 4 more than Nathan MacKinnon of Avalanche.

Nikita Kucherov locked in the Art Ross Trophy Thursday night as the leading scorer in the NHL. 

Kucherov has had a historic season, holding the NHL points lead (outright or tied) for 129 days, 97 more days than any other skater. He is just the seventh player in NHL history to factor into over 50% of his team’s goals. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning forward had 144 points (44 goals, 100 assists) in 81 games this season. That’s four more than Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon who ended the regular season second, with 140 points, 51 goals and 89 assists in 82 games and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, who finished the season with 132 points; 32 goals, 100 assists in 76 games.

On Wednesday night at Amalie Arena, Kucherov became the fifth player in NHL history to get at least 100 assists, joining McDavid, Wayne Gretzky(11 times), Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr. That marks the most assists by a winger in a single season in NHL history. 

More than half (54) of Kucherov’s 100 assists were secured on the road this season, the most since Gretzky, who ended the season with 57 in 1990-91. 

This is the second time Kucherov has won the Art Ross trophy. During the 2018-19 season, he recorded 128 points (41 goals, 87 assists) in 82 games.

The Lightning finished as the first wild card team in the Eastern Conference. They’re set to play the Atlantic Division No.1 seed, the Florida Panthers in the First Round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The series will begin on Sunday, April 21st at 12:30pm in Sunrise.