The two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off couldn’t come at a better time for Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Nikita Kucherov, who head coach Jon Cooper shared is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, per Benjamin Pierce, the Lightning’s Manager of Media Relations. Cooper added that Kucherov tweaked something at Saturday’s practice, forcing him to miss Tampa Bay’s 5-3 win over Montreal on Sunday. The Sunday win marked the end of a busy stretch in Tampa Bay’s schedule, marked by two home games and two away games in just a five-day span. That busy stint could have exacerbated any minor injuries Kucherov was facing, but he’ll now have plenty of time to recover with Tampa Bay’s next game not until February 23rd.
The Tampa Bay offense fired on all cylinders without Kucherov on Sunday, but the star Russian has still served as the team’s beating heart. He’s scored eight points in his last five games and leads the Lightning lineup with 25 goals and 82 points in 52 games this season. He’s scoring at an 82-game pace of 39 goals and 129 points. Those marks would – impressively – not even scratch Kucherov’s career-high in scoring, which he set with 44 goals, 100 assists, and 144 points in 81 games last season. Kucherov and Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid became the first players to reach 100 assists this century last season. The feat had previously not been accomplished since Wayne Gretzky achieved it in the 1990-91 season. That was Gretkzy’s 11th consecutive season reaching the scoring mark that only four other players have ever hit, none more than once.
With a well-timed break in store, Kucherov shouldn’t miss any prolonged time with this injury. He’s appeared in at least 21 minutes of ice time in each of Tampa Bay’s last 10 games, and should continue in that role when the team returns from the 4-Nations break. If he does, only a few players in the league will stand as more of an assured scoring threat.