Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper wants to see Nikita Kucherov reach 100 assists on Wednesday.
Ideally, he does not want to see Auston Matthews hit 70 goals. Though he does admit it would be cool to see.
“For 34 to be able to get 70 and to be able to say you were in the building — as a fan — would be super cool,” said Cooper ahead of Wednesday night’s matchup between the Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. “The problem is, I’m the coach of the other team, so we have to find a way to prevent that.”
Matthews sits at 69 goals on the season heading into the game. It marks the highest single-season goals total in the salary-cap era.
On the prospect of his own player hitting a major milestone, Cooper said: “Clearly I’m pulling for 86 to get his 100th assist. What a remarkable accomplishment that would be.”
If Kucherov reaches the mark, he joins Connor McDavid, who hit 100 assists on Monday, as the only players to do so in the last 33 years.
The coach also joked that one way to ensure the two milestones happen would be for him and Leafs bench boss Sheldon Keefe to pull their respective goaltenders “in the first five minutes.”
However, to the Maple Leafs’ and Matthews’ benefit, it sounds like the Lightning may be icing a slightly weaker lineup for the game.
“We have barely enough guys to dress 20,” Cooper told reporters when asked if he would be resting anyone. “If it doesn’t go the right way in the next few hours, we’re playing short. We’re resting out of necessity because we have to heal some wounds. … Hopefully, we get some of these guys healthy here for the weekend.”
The matchup marks the regular-season finale for both the Maple Leafs and the Lightning, with the former slated to face the Boston Bruins in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs and the latter set to meet the Florida Panthers.