Not only did the Tampa Bay Lightning fall short to the New York Islanders in Game 6 on Wednesday night, they lost Nikita Kucherov to an undisclosed injury.
Kucherov left in the first period after being on the receiving end of a controversial hit from Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield. It should’ve been a penalty, but the officiating crew somehow missed it.
Tampa Bay hasn’t revealed Kucherov’s status for Game 7 tonight, but Joe Smith of The Athletic just shared an important update on the team’s top-line winger.
Smith announced on Twitter that Kucherov was not on the ice for the Lightning’s optional morning skate. At this point, his status for Game 7 is uncertain.
No Nikita Kucherov at #tblightning optional skate. Erik Cernak is here. He missed the last two games with upper body injury
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) June 25, 2021
The Lightning have a lot of experience playing without Kucherov since he missed the regular season due to a hip injury. However, they obviously want him out there in a do-or-die situation against the Islanders.
Kucherov leads the NHL this postseason with 27 points, which includes 17 power-play points. Tampa Bay was 0-for-2 on the power play without Kucherov on Wednesday.
Since the Lighting aren’t sure if they’ll have Kucherov on the ice tonight, head coach Jon Cooper said his players will have a “next man up” mentality.
“It’s next man up,” Cooper said, via ESPN. “These guys, this collective group, there wasn’t panic in the group at all.”
Game 7 between the Islanders and Lighting will begin at 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports. The winner will face the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final.
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