Playing in his first NHL game, Nikita Kucherov is initially tied up in front of the net early in the first period of a game versus the New York Rangers. After a shot from the point is steered to the corner, Kucherov gets away from his check near the left circle where Teddy Purcell passes him the puck. Kucherov one-times a blast that gets through the netminder for his first career goal in front of the elated home crowd. His goal, which opened the scoring, proved to be the game winner in Tampa Bay’s 5-0 win. Sporting jersey #56 during the game, Kucherov initially donned that number for a handful of games before moving to #86 which he continues to wear to this day.