Kucherov took a slash to the knee on a power play from Florida's Anthony Duclair well after delivering a pass up ice. Kucherov immediately grabbed his knee and crumpled to the ice, where he remained for a while as he was checked out by head athletic trainer Tom Mulligan.
Kucherov put very little weight on his leg to get off the ice but remained in the bench area sitting on a stool for a few minutes while being attended to before eventually making his way down the tunnel to the room during the final media timeout of Game 4.
Kucherov was named the first star of Game 4 after scoring a power-play goal and notching three assists, recording his third-career postseason game of four or more points. He didn't come out to acknowledge the crowd during the First Star announcement as Alex Killorn (3rd Star) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (2nd Star) did before him.
Kucherov has been brilliant this postseason coming off of hip surgery December 29 that forced him to miss the entire 2020-21 regular season. He's tallied at least one point in all four First Round games. He leads the Lightning and the NHL for playoff scoring currently (3-6-9 pts.). And he's one point away from matching his own franchise record for points in a single playoff series set previously during a 2018 First Round series versus New Jersey (5-5-10 pts.) and again in the 2020 Eastern Conference Final against the New York Islanders (2-8-10 pts.).
With Kucherov leading the Lightning's power-play attack, the Bolts have connected on 7-of-15 power plays so far in the First Round, their 46.7 percent success rate with the man-advantage leading the NHL playoffs.
Sergachev took a shoulder-to-shoulder hit from Florida's Patric Hornqvist in the closing minutes of Saturday's 6-2 Lightning win, sending him flying into the corner boards head and shoulder first. Sergachev eventually was able to rise to his feet and skate off under his own power after receiving attention on the ice from Mulligan but was hunched over at the waist and in obvious discomfort as he exited the playoff surface and headed to the locker room.
Sergachev recorded his first point of the First Round series earlier in Game 4 after assisting on Yanni Gourde's goal in the opening period that provided the Bolts with a 2-0 lead. Sergachev ranks third on the Lightning for average time on ice (21:32) during the First Round, tied for second for hits (14) and third for blocked shots (7).
With no update offered Sunday, it's likely we won't know whether Kucherov or Sergachev will be available for Game 5 until morning skate Monday. The Lightning are scheduled to practice prior to Game 5 at 11:30 a.m. Monday at Florida's BB&T Center.
Tampa Bay, which owns a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, can close out the First Round and advance to the Second Round of the playoffs for the eighth time in franchise history with a win Monday.
