'Not a day-to-day thing': Kucherov forced to miss time with injury

Tampa Bay superstar forward Nikita Kucherov will be out of the Lightning lineup in the short term after sustaining an injury in the Bolts' 2-1 overtime victory at the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
Whether he'll be out long term remains to be seen.

Kucherov was injured midway through the third period against the Caps after contacting Garnet Hathaway with his right leg. Kucherov immediately doubled over in pain and appeared to grab his groin area as he skated slowly to the bench. After getting checked by head athletic trainer Tom Mulligan, Kucherov headed to the locker room where he remained for the duration of the game.
Kucherov didn't practice with the Lightning Monday, and after, head coach Jon Cooper said he's going to miss some time.
"It's definitely not a day-to-day thing," Cooper said. "We'll wait until we get official word. He's definitely going to be out for a little while here, but I'm not going to put a timetable on it until we get official word. In the short term here, he's definitely out."

Kucherov sat out the entire 2020-21 regular season after having offseason hip surgery. He returned for the opening game of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs and led the NHL for postseason scoring for a second-straight year, notching eight goals and 32 points playing all 23 games and finishing second to Andrei Vasilevskiy in voting for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Kucherov had four points in three games so far this season, all of his scoring coming in a four-point effort two nights prior to getting injured in a 7-6 OT win at Detroit.
"It's frustrating, more for him because I just know the work it took him to get back," Cooper said. "He was rewarded in the end with hoisting the Stanley Cup again, but I know he was looking forward to having a big year. As I said, it's still early on here so let's see what the official diagnosis is. Anytime he misses one game it's frustrating for him. I feel for him, but let's see what happens."
With Kucherov absent, Corey Perry slid into his spot alongside Ondrej Palat and Brayden Point on the Lightning's top line. Perry, who joined Tampa Bay as a free agent this offseason, said he sits between Palat and Point in the Bolts locker room, so the communication between the three has been there even before being put on a line together.
Perry had a great line about his role playing with those two as well.
"I've seen firsthand how they play the last couple years," he said. "It's just a matter of winning your battles, getting the puck to Pointer and letting him do his thing."

The Lightning will also have to make adjustments on the power play with Kucherov sidelined. Palat took over his spot in the right circle on the top unit. And with Palat moving from the second power play to the first, Ross Colton joined the second unit.
When Kucherov was out last regular season, Palat was tasked with replacing him on the top unit and had considerable success, the Bolts connecting at a 22.2 percent success rate, good for ninth best in the NHL.
That number jumped to 32.4 percent in the playoffs with Kucherov back.
"Nobody in the league can replace him on the half wall there," Cooper said. "Pally, we've had guys, they've been there before. It's getting used to guys' chemistry and getting back to that. (Palat) hasn't played there since last regular season, so it's been a while. We're not worried. They still click over 20 percent with that group, and so if they can still do that again, we'll be in good shape."
The Lightning don't know how long they'll be without Kucherov. But they can find some comfort in the fact they didn't have him last regular season and played well enough to finish third in a tough Central Division to qualify for the playoffs, where they hit their stride once Kucherov was re-inserted into the lineup on their way to winning back-to-back Stanley Cups.
"They did it last year without him," Perry said. "They found a way. Everybody bought into the system. He got back, he got healthy and away they went. It's just a matter of finding that little bit of depth and little bit of courage to pick him up."