Kucherov 1st to 100 points, Lightning defeat Devils

NEWARK, N.J. -- Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists, becoming the first player to reach 100 points this season, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-1 at Prudential Center on Sunday.

Kucherov required the fewest games in Lightning history (59) to reach the mark (102 points; 38 goals, 64 assists). He held the previous record of 62 games set in 2018-19.

"He's a special, special player and it was never more evident than tonight," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "It was fun to watch.

"You don't win in this league without being a team. One guy can't do it himself, but you do need a leader out there, and [Kucherov] leads in the locker room, but he really leads on the ice, and when your top guys are playing the right way, everybody follows suit. It's no surprise he's where he's at right now."

Brandon Hagel had a goal and two assists, Brayden Point and Victor Hedman each had a goal and an assist, and Jonas Johansson made 18 saves in just his third start since Dec. 31 for the Lightning (32-23-5), who have won two straight after three consecutive losses.

"We all understand where we're at. It's crunch time," Hagel said. "We need to play that way every single night if we want to get to where we want to get to, and that's the Stanley Cup Playoffs."

Tyler Toffoli scored his 25th goal of the season, and Akira Schmid made 23 saves in his first start since Dec. 21 for the Devils (29-25-4), who are 1-3-0 in their past four.

Coach Lindy Ruff was asked after the game if he feels responsible for New Jersey being in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division, five points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third.

"I take full responsibility," Ruff said. "You want to win, and we've dealt with a lot. Players want to win. I'm responsible for the wins and losses, who gets on the ice and who doesn't get on the ice.

"I said this before, we've got a passionate fan base. They want to see wins, and if you look at our home record (14-15-2), that part hurts, so I feel fully responsible."

Hedman gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead on a shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle at 1:27 of the second period.

"Just get open and 'Kuch' will find you," Hedman said. "I was just kind of mirroring [Kucherov] all the way down just in case he needed me, and it came over."

Point made it 2-0 at 4:15 when he tucked the puck inside the right post off the skate of Schmid.

Toffoli cut it to 2-1 at 6:01 with a power-play goal from the bottom of the left circle. He extended his point streak to six games (three goals, four assists).

"They've won championships and they have a lot of those guys that were there," Toffoli said. "They know what to do and how to win games and, obviously, they did a better job of playing the game today than we did."

Hagel pushed the lead to 3-1 at 9:38 of the third period when he poked a loose puck past Schmid with one hand on his stick. He has 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in a 13-game point streak.

"[Hagel] does a lot of the same things that (current Devils and former Lightning forward) Ondrej Palat did," Cooper said. "They're 200-foot players that never say die, never quit. He's one of those guys who can play with elite guys, and he's been showing that for a long time.

"If you had to pick an MVP on our team, 'Kuch' would be leading the way, but I would be hard-pressed to say, especially after coming back from the All-Star break, that [Hagel] isn't right there with him."

Kucherov scored an empty-net goal at 18:25 for the 4-1 final.

"He's going to go down as one of the best in the NHL," Hagel said of Kucherov. "I get the opportunity to play by his side, watch him do that every night. Those are guys I look up to. Those are guys that everyone looks up to and everyone in this room looks up to. It's a special milestone and hats off to him."

NOTES: Kucherov had his fifth four-point game this season, each coming on the road. It's the second time in his NHL career he's had five in one season on the road (2018-19). Four others have achieved the feat multiple times: Wayne Gretzky (seven), Mario Lemieux (four), Steve Yzerman (two) and Peter Stastny (two).