The Tampa Bay Lightning are already down 2-0 in their first round playoff series, and their star player could be facing discipline from the league.
Nikita Kucherov will have a hearing on Saturday, NHL Player Safety announced.
Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov will have a hearing tomorrow for Boarding Columbus’ Markus Nutivaara.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) April 13, 2019
The hearing will be about Kucherov’s boarding penalty that came late in the Lightning’s 5-1 home defeat on Friday night. Kucherov slammed into a defenseless Markus Nutivaara, who was kneeling by the boards.
1 game suspension for Kucherov? pic.twitter.com/FenzcDfLUQ
— CBJ Front Line (@CBJFrontLine) April 13, 2019
Kucherov has never been suspended during his career. This would be a heck of a time for the league to decide to make it a first for him. There could be precedent too, based on the 3-game suspension Nazem Kadri received last year for a similar hit.
Tampa Bay won 62 games in the regular season, outscored opponents by 103 goals, and their 128 points were 21 more than the next closest team. Yet they blew a 3-0 lead in Game 1 and got throttled in Game 2 and now trail Columbus in their best of seven series.
Kucherov, who led the league with 128 points in the regular season, has been held pointless through two games. He did rack up the penalties on Friday though.
Nikita Kucherov gets two minutes tripping, five for boarding and a game misconduct. Ends a forgettable and frustrating night for #TBLightning star
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) April 13, 2019
