REUTERS/Mike Cassese
Just like the turning of the calendar to a new year, the second half of the NHL season gives players a chance to continue to build on their strong starts, or in some cases, forget the first half entirely and try to salvage what season is left.
Nikolai Kulemin would certainly fall into the latter, and last night he seemed more than ready to turn the page on the opening half of the NHL schedule, and look forward to brighter things as the season winds into the back half.
After scoring 30 goals and 57 points last season in a breakout campaign, Kulemin has struggled mightily this year to find the scoresheet, and any sort of consistent play. However, 2012 has been kind to the Russian forward, at least early on. Kulemin has three points in his last three games, and if last night’s game against the rival Sabres was any indication, he could be ready to end the NHL season on a high note.
Last night was far and away the closest to seeing the Kulemin of last season, the one who carved a niche for himself not only as a hard working forward who added secondary scoring, but also as a fan favourite in Leafs Nation.
Last night Kulemin was engaged from the start. He played hard every shift, and proved that more often than not, if you work hard every shift eventually good things will happen.
He opened the scoring for the Leafs in the first period, using his strength in front of the net, and a slick move to get the puck past Ryan Miller. It was his fifth goal of the year. Less than ten minutes later he was on the scoresheet again, this time assisting on Mikhail Grabovski’s goal that widened the Leafs lead to 2.
Kulemin now has 18 points on the season.
But certainly one wouldn’t need a game recap to see the impact Kulemin had on the game.
Every shift was physical and accompanied by a dash of speed in his stride. His hit on Patrick Kaleta brought the crowd in the Air Canada Centre to a roar, and likely garnered the applause of players around the league, who aren’t exactly on good terms with the Sabres pest.
And while you can’t exactly say that Kulemin is out of the woods so to speak, things have been very encouraging for him (and his line mates as well) as the calendar has shifted to 2012.
If this is Kulemin’s new years resolution, I’d say he might be one of the few who can succeed. The problem with resolutions, of course, is keeping up with them.
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