Tampa Bay Lightning's Nikita Kucherov bags Hart Trophy as NHL's most valuable player

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kucherov-nikita/CCOwSw87/"]Kucherov[/a], who also won the Hart in 2019, edged [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/edmonton-oilers/Mg0qoxeI/"]Edmonton Oilers[/a] star [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcdavid-connor/0018zFz5/"]Connor McDavid[/a] in voting for the award by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.[/p][p]He finished 10 points ahead of three-time winner McDavid in the closest vote since 2002, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mackinnon-nathan/dhMyX3sE/"]Nathan MacKinnon[/a] of the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/colorado-avalanche/hACAnvBa/"]Colorado Avalanche[/a] coming in third.[/p][p]Russia's Kucherov piled up 130 points this season, scoring 44 goals and delivering 86 assists in 76 games.[/p][embed guid="f157d256-f317-4dcc-b28b-15faa6c2607c" url="https://x.com/PuckReportNHL/status/2065214355138867215?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]That included a 10-game stretch from December 20-January 12 when he had 10 goals and 15 assists.[/p][p]The 32-year-old, who is a five-time finalist for the award, is the third player to go seven-plus years between Hart Trophy wins, joining [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jeannot-tanner/I53Zc5ae/"]Jean Beliveau[/a] (eight years) and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/crosby-sidney/UTbIZpKC/"]Sidney Crosby[/a] (seven years).[/p]