The Tampa Bay Lightning’s injury woes could be getting worse. Star forwards Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point left Saturday night’s game against the Washington Capitals with injuries. Kucherov was hurt in the second period after getting knocked around in a scrum. Point also left in the second period with an undisclosed injury, though he made a brief return before leaving again in the third. Head coach Jon Cooper said that it was too soon to make a statement on either injury, per team reporter Gabby Shirley.
Rookie Dominic James also left the game in the second period with an apparent injury, but managed to return for the third.
Kucherov scored one goal and three points in the first period, helping set Tampa up for an eventual 5-3 win. It was the 44th time he has scored multiple points in the first period, a new Lightning record above Steven Stamkos’ 43 per the NHL Public Records. He ranks second on the Lightning in scoring on the year, with 19 points in 18 games. The superstar Russian has lost no momentum in his 12th NHL season, and would leave a major hole in the lineup and on the scoresheet should he need to miss time.
Point also remains a core piece of the Lightning’s offense. He has had a down year by his standards, with 11 points and a minus-10 in 20 games, though that mark still ranks fifth on the team in scoring. The Lightning lean on Point’s ability to play both between, and off of, star scorers Kucherov and Jake Guentzel. His absence would force the team to find another adaptable second-line center. It would also bump rookie Jack Finley back into the lineup. Finley has two points and a plus-one in eight games this season. He made his NHL debut last season, after scoring 28 points in 40 AHL games.
Tampa Bay is already facing injuries to top defenders Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh. Despite that, Saturday night’s win earned the Bolts a three-game win streak, and a 11-3-0 record over their last 14 games.
This is…insane.
Hope they’re both ok.
I’m more worried about Feel the Teardrops. He is gonna take this pretty hard.
The referring in this game was horrendous. Hope Kucherov and Point will be okay. Still have no clue when Point got hurt. Cooper wasn’t pleased with Washington’s dirty play in the game but Tampa got the last laugh with the win!
Tom Wilson is a punk a$$ b*tch as he was out just trying to injure anyone intentionally. His hit to Nikita Kucherov was definitely intentional because Tampa was dog walking their a$$es. I’m glad Curtis Douglas got a few punches on Wilson but Douglas shouldn’t have given Wilson the courtesy to get his one glove off and should have went on attack immediately. Wilson only got Douglas down by getting him off balance then Wilson took cheap shots at Douglas like a thug while down. Wilson isn’t a tough guy by any means but bonafide punk. Douglas will remember for the next time they cross (playoffs or next season) each other as Wilson won’t be so lucky.
Dominic James received an ugly boarding shot and yet, no call at all despite the ref looking directly at it smh. Luckily, he was okay but the referring was just ridiculously bad in this game.
The goon squad getting a taste of their own medicine
Goon squad?…You have the wrong Florida team. That team is in South Florida.
Whine whine whine. Cry cry cry.
Wilson will do whatever he wants whenever he wants because there is no one on your team that can stop him.
You’re a worse homer than majority of leafs fans. So insufferable.
@FeartheWilson – HAHA! Actually, genius, Wilson can’t do whatever he wants. Tampa did stop him though. Once Wilson gets punched in the mouth he cowards away like a typical bully. He whined and cried every time someone retaliated. He’s a total blowhard.
@wreckage – you know what is so insufferable is hearing people like you whine and complain about someone’s thoughts. If you don’t like what I have to say then don’t read it, moron.
@feelthetundra beware! @Wreckage gonna use his mute button on you! Yanotgonalike it
@Evil Labubu – Lol! A little humor being added here. That’s a bit refreshing but be careful as some people on here might take offense to it like they do with everything else.
Honestly though, I could care less if @wreckage uses the mute button. It would spare me his pathetic rhetoric. I’ve used the mute button on several people because of their annoying trolling and constant negativity.
What a shame Kucherov can’t pretend to be injured until the playoffs again, and magically be ready for game 1…..one way they can’t cheat anymore.
Hip replacement surgery is pretending?…LOL! I guess intelligence isn’t your thing.
Explain to me why any player would prefer to fake an injury and miss out on a ton of games just for the playoffs? There’s a competitive gene in hockey players (really most professional athletes), which is why 99% of them play with nagging injuries. I’m not buying it for one second.
@dm867: (For the most part) I don’t think people questioned the authenticity of these ‘out until game 1 of round 1’ LTIR injuries the past few seasons.
It had more to do with the estimated recovery times being stretched to benefit the team.