The forward sustained an undisclosed injury early in the first period of Game 6 on Wednesday and left the game. The Islanders won 3-2 in overtime to extend the best-of-7 series.
"There was no question if I'm going to play or not," Kucherov said. "I felt good. We decided to, you know, what else to do. It's Game 7, you've got to sacrifice yourself, play in these moments and share it with the boys. I felt good today."
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said he wasn't as sure as his player.
"Yeah, I didn't feel the same way," Cooper said. "I'm glad he did, and that's the only vote that counts. But it was dicey. I thought that was a big push for our room because I'm not so sure the players thought he was going to end up playing, especially after the game a couple nights ago. Not only to get 'Kuch' back, but to get Erik Cernak] back, I thought that was a huge lift for us and clearly it was good mojo for our guys."
***[RELATED: [Complete Islanders vs. Lightning series coverage]*
The Lightning advanced to the Stanley Cup Final to play the Montreal Canadiens, who defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in six games in their semifinal.
Kucherov played 16:29 with two shots on goal. He leads the postseason with 27 points (five goals, 22 assists) in 18 games after he missed the entire 56-game regular season recovering from hip surgery he had Dec. 29, 2020.
The crowd at Amalie Arena chanted Kucherov's name during warmups.
"I don't think I've ever seen our fans that crazy before a game …," Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said. "That was pretty good. Guys are warriors … guys are playing through so much right now at this time of the year that it's just amazing to see the effort that everyone puts in."
Cernak played 19:50 with four hits and two blocked shots after missing two games with an upper-body injury.
Kucherov left Game 6 after his first shift, 2:22 into the first period. He appeared to jam his right arm or shoulder checking Islanders center Mathew Barzal. He struggled to finish the shift and went to the locker room with a Lightning trainer at the stoppage in play.
