The Tampa Bay Lightning had no update on the health of leading scorer Nikita Kucherov, who was injured on his first shift of their Game 6 loss Wednesday night. The Islanders won the game, 3-2 in overtime, to force Game 7 on Friday night in Tampa, Florida.
“It sucks to lose Kuch like that early,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said of Kucherov, who leads all playoff scorers with 27 points in 17 games. “Guys battled. We played short the rest of the game.”
In the first period, Kucherov was cross-checked by New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield in front of referee Chris Lee, who didn’t whistle a penalty on the play.
Kucherov continued his shift, throwing a check on Islanders forward Mathew Barzal. He eventually doubled over in pain, and then left the ice for the trainers’ room. Kucherov did not return, having played only 46 seconds in the Lightning loss, leaving the ice just 2:22 into the game.
