The Tampa Bay Lightning may have taken a 3-1 lead against the Florida Panthers Saturday, but at a cost as Nikita Kucherov and Mikhail Sergachev were both injured during the game. While there have been no updates on either players’ status for Game 5, The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required) writes that early indications are that neither injury is considered serious.
Kucherov, who left Saturday’s game after being slashed in the knee by Florida’s Anthony Duclair, also suffered a head-to-head injury when he was shoved into goaltender Chris Driedger. Smith writes that the knee injury isn’t considered serious. Sergachev, however, who left the game with a head injury after a shoulder-to-shoulder hit against the boards from Patric Hornqvist. The belief is that he will be fine, although there is no word if either player would be made available for Game 5.
Smith also notes that there is nothing expected from the Department of Player Safety on anything that happened in Game 4.
- It looks like the Carolina Hurricanes will be without their top defenseman again Sunday as head coach Rod Brind’Amour said the team will have no lineup changes including no Jaccob Slavin, according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. Slavin who has missed Games 2 & 3 so far due to a lower-body injury, is still considered to be day-to-day, but Brind’Amour stated that he is not ruling out the blueliner for the rest of the series. Slavin led the team during the regular season in ATOI with 22:58 and was second on the team in plus/minus with a +22.
- Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville said that he will not name a goaltender for Game 5 until Monday, but rookie goaltender Spencer Knight is a possibility to start, according to George Richards of FloridaHockeyNow. While that may not sound like much, Knight was in the starter’s net for practice Monday, while Sergei Bobrovsky and Driedger were sharing the other net. Neither Bobrovsky and Driedger have impressed so far in four playoff games. Each netminder has made three appearances with Driedger being the better of the two, boasting a 3.70 GAA and a .871 save percentage, while Bobrovsky carried a 5.33 GAA and a .841 save percentage. Knight, who fared well in four regular season appearances, could get an opportunity to try to spark a team that’s close to elimination.
I originally picked the Panthers to win the first two rounds and then remembered that Bob would lead their goalie carousel, follwed by a journeyman who will be on another team next year and only then would they get to their goalie of the future.
So I switched to TB.
It reminds me of 2011 when the Flyers, for some reason I’ll never stop laughing about, yanked around Bob (then up and coming with star potential, not overpaid and lazy as he is now) and started Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher over him in a first round flop and then traded him to bring in Bryz.
Is he lazy, or just being a typical NHL goalie?
NHL goalie consistency over a career is rarer than moon rocks.
They are playoff series deal-breakers, but should never be given long term deals, or high money deals. Middle of the road at best monetary with 3 years max (guestimate-wise)
Totally dirty unnecessary play by duclair. I always like him as a player, seen his potential in the WJCs, but I lost some respect for him. No need to slash a guy so late after the puck was gone. Sucks to see stars go down because guys are running around acting like thugs.
DuClair should be suspended for one or more games. That slash was cowardly, unprofessional, and will one he will regret. The Lightning will finish off the Panthers on Monday, regardless of who is in net. Save DuClair’s punishment for next season and make sure he is forced to miss several weeks with an appropriate injury. He should feel hunted every time he is on the ice.