kucherov

TAMPA --Nikita Kucherov is unlikely to play for Tampa Bay Lightning against the Buffalo Sabres at Amalie Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SUN, MSG-B, NHL.TV) because of an upper-body injury.
The forward was not on the ice for the start of the morning skate but came out in a normal jersey near the end and remained with the Lightning scratches. He left in the first period of a 4-3 shootout win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.

Kucherov leads the NHL with 82 points (33 goals, 49 assists) in 63 games for the Lightning (43-17-3), whose 89 points are first in the NHL. Tampa Bay leads the Atlantic Division by four points over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Forward Tyler Johnson injured his ankle in the third period Monday but returned for overtime.
"Tyler should be in, [Kucherov] is up in the air," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Probably more in the doubtful [range] than in."
Defenseman Ryan McDonagh, traded to Tampa Bay by the New York Rangers on Monday, is recovering from an upper-body injury and is expected to play next week. Forward Ondrej Palat (lower body) has missed 17 games and could return in mid-March.
"[Kucherov] is a little banged up right now and we're still waiting on Palat, so it's going take a little bit of time to get everybody back together," Cooper said. "The key is going to be, if we can get ourselves in the playoffs, to make sure that we're playing as well as we possibly can for any sort of postseason run and to make sure all the guys are healthy and not to rush guys back."
The Lightning play the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Thursday in the second of a back to back.