Photo by Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Ovi? Is that you?Not only did Nikita Kucherov pick up a natural hat trick, scoring three straight goals in the second period against Ottawa on Monday, the Tampa Bay Lightning forward did his best "Alex Ovechkin on repeat" impression as he had a field day ripping home one-timers from the exact same spot on the ice, all three times.This is not an instant replay.Kucherov got his goal party started on the powerplay as he teed-up a pass from Victor Hedman from the right faceoff dot and blew it by Sens goaltender Mike Condon. About five minutes later, Jonathan Drouin delivered a gorgeous feed to Kucherov for goal No. 2 on the night. And with under 30 seconds left in the frame, Hedman and Kucherov mind-warped us all with their rendition of exactly what they did 15 minutes earlier.Kucherov has been quite a force for the Lightning since being drafted in the second round in 2011. The 23-year-old Russian has 207 points in parts of four seasons with the club and currently leads the Lightning in goals (26) and points (58) this season. His big night comes, perhaps, a little too late for Tampa, as the trading of starting goaltender Ben Bishop and assistant captain Brian Boyle over the past two days all but signifies the Lightning have thrown in the towel on 2016-17 as they rid themselves of expiring, veteran contracts.A few more natural hattys from Kucherov might keep them hanging around, though, as they sit five points back of Toronto for the final wild-card spot in a tight and unpredictable Eastern Conference.[FOX Sports]