How do you stop one of the greatest players of his generation? That’s what the Toronto Maple Leafs need to figure out against Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov on Monday night.

The two teams are set to renew their Atlantic Division rivalry at Scotiabank Arena later this evening, with Toronto looking to move to 3-0 in the season series. Toronto has outscored the Lightning 10-5 so far, with Kucherov managing just the one assist on Oct. 21 (he didn’t play on Nov. 30). So the Leafs have done an excellent of shutting him down this year, but don’t expect that to last.

When Kucherov last played the Maple Leafs back on Oct. 21, he had seven goals and 10 points through just five games. His scoring rate has dipped a bit to just a 40-goal pace, but he’s still on pace for 130 points – which would mark the third time he has registered at least 125 in a season. Kucherov is a perennial Hart Trophy candidate and perhaps even a bit under the radar because he has never been an explosive scoring star. Still, he’s coming off a career-best of 44 last year, so it’s not like he’s a slouch in that department, either.

Kucherov currently sits third in NHL scoring with 68 points, five behind Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon for first. He has a near 20-point gap over teammates Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel, and he boasts the NHL’s best points-per-game average at 1.62. He’s riding an eight-game point streak with 14 points in that span, including five over the past two outings. He’s been especially dangerous on the man advantage, leading all players with 25 assists – six more than Jack Hughes and Lucas Raymond in second.

Kucherov has seven goals and 21 points in 14 games against the Leafs dating back to the 2022-23 season, including playoffs. But the last time the Bolts beat Toronto in the regular season with Kucherov in the lineup was on Dec. 3, 2022, with the Russian winger scoring on the man advantage. Still, Kucherov always seems to produce against one of Tampa’s biggest rivals – so how do the Leafs contain him?

“The catch line is to take away time and space, which is important,” Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe said. “But for a guy like him, he’s so talented. It seems like he always knows what his options are, so you got to be really aware of that before you go to take his time and space to leave in the middle of the ice that you have that covered off.

“Whether it’s his centerman sitting there, waiting for a pop play, or he can make plays on his forehand, backhand, running off the wall. So you just gotta be aware of what’s away from him what he’s trying to set up.”

Kucherov is known for his crafty puck skills, allowing him to beat everyone in a 1-on-1 situation. Sometimes, being a bit overzealous in defending against him can kill you.

“You just have to be composed going up to him,” winger Matthew Knies said. “He makes deceptive moves and can find passing lanes from anywhere. So you just have to be composed and take those chances away from him.”

In other cases, you might have to.

“He plays the game at his own pace,” Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev said earlier this year. “He’ll slow it down. He’ll speed it up. We can’t let him dictate and control the game. We’ve got to take time and space away from him as much as we can.”

The Leafs are riding a high after a big comeback victory against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. It was their second win in a row, and they now sit with a 7-3-0 record over the past 10 games. The only team with more points in that span is Montreal, with the Bolts struggling a bit with a 5-4-1 run. The Leafs enter Monday’s contest in the top spot in the Atlantic, and might avoid a playoff rematch with the Lightning (unless they continue to falter and fall into a wild-card spot.

So there’s a ton of urgency for the Lightning to come out swinging on Monday – and they’ll need Kucherov to fly high. For the Leafs, they know containing him can be a challenge – but they’re more than capable of getting the job done.