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Kucherov’s star continues to rise, Stamkos sharp as Lightning best Penguins

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at the Barclays Center on November 1, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

Bruce Bennett

Look, it’s early in the season, and the Pittsburgh Penguins were closing off a tough back-to-back set after beating the Washington Capitals last night.

It’s dangerous, then, to draw too many broad conclusions from the Tampa Bay Lightning beating the Penguins 5-4 on Thursday.

Certain thoughts feel safe enough to at least express, though, so let’s throw one out: if Nikita Kucherov - Steven Stamkos - Vladislav Namestnikov isn’t the best line in the NHL during this early season, it’s awfully close.*

For the Lightning, seeing a keyed-in Stamkos is enough after their captain’s 2016-17 season was derailed by another baffling run of bad injury luck. Stamkos scored his first goal in some time after testing Antti Niemi frequently:

The scary thing for the Lightning’s opponents is that Kucherov, 24, sure seems like the most brilliant star on that line. At least on many nights.

One can only wonder what kind of money Kucherov will receive after his sub-$4.8 million cap hit expires at the end of the 2018-19 season. He scored a goal and an assist in this win, and while he hasn’t been as flashy as the Ovechkins of the world, his relentless production is something to behold. Kucherov has a goal and an assist in three straight games after totally slacking to start the season with a mere goal.

The slick Russian winger also is firing away with a healthy 15 shots on goal in his first four contests.

To an extent, other Lightning players stole some of the thunder on Thursday. Slater Koekkoek scored the first two goals of his NHL career. Alex Killorn generated a career-high four assists.

Supporting cast members will need to come through for the Lightning to win big; they merely need to note that the repeat champs they beat tonight enjoyed big contributions from Jake Guentzel, not just the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Still, those stars do often drive the bus, and Stamkos - Kucherov looks like it could be one of the league’s dynamic duos if this first week is any indication.

Such observations aren’t anything to complain about, right?

* - Tough to argue with Alex Ovechkin - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Jakub Vrana, agreed.
James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

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