Kucherov passed Murphy
This evening has begun Nikita Kucherov pretty good. When “Tampas” led 3:2 with “Colorado Avalanche” in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals, he provided an assist to Lightning captain Steven Stamkos to score the fourth goal.
And after three and a half minutes, Kucherov helped Pat Maroon and he scored the fifth goal. Everything in this match became clear…
In general, Kucherov again decided. And scored two points, went to 28th place in history among the top scorers in the NHL Cup. Now Nikita has 153 points and he’s beaten legendary defenseman Larry Murphy (152). In front of Adam Oates (156), Kucherov can get around him in a few days.
So it seemed. But in the last minutes of the match, with a score of 6-2 in favor of Tampa, the Russian striker was injured.
Toews back kick
In general, the game turned out to be difficult, and Kucherov himself, eight minutes before the end of the third period, knocked Colorado defender Josh Manson into the board. The push from behind looked messy and Manson could get hurt. But he jumped and ran.
Then Kucherov moved the club on the back of the defender Devon Toews, as he tried to get away from him at the time of the partner’s pass from his area. And after a few seconds, Teyvs himself responded to this when he went to fight Kucherov and attacked him from behind.
First blow in the left thigh. And when Nikita fell on his left knee, he also pressed from above so that the Russian literally screamed in pain.
Kucherov could not continue the match. He tried to come of age, but realized his leg wasn’t feeling too good, and finally went to the locker room.
The only optimism here is that Nikita was able to return to the game. And maybe he and the coaches just decided not to take any risks. Because “Tampa” confidently led the count and would be worth dealing with until Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, which begins in one day.
John Cooper: “You know the answer to that question yourself”
After the game, when taking comments, Tampa defenseman Victor Hedman said that Toews played dangerously in this episode.
“Let’s see what happens next,” Hedman said. “Most likely there will be no consequences.”
Lightning head coach John Cooper added that he does not yet have information on the severity of Kucherov’s injury.
“What do I think of when Toews attacked Kucherov? When you are asked questions like this, you try to find answers, but everyone already knows them. Hockey is a contact game. And the guys know what they’re doing. Smart hockey players know very well what they are doing with their stick. We have all seen what happened. I don’t have any information about Kucherov’s condition yet.
At the same time, it must be said that Tampa entered this game without Brayden Point, who never recovered from a similar injury he earned in the first round against Toronto. And striker Nick Paul, it seems, got injured in the third game. He occasionally went to the locker room, but still brought the game to a close.
Thus, the victory of “Tampa” in the third game promises to be Pyrrhic. The team can lose three attackers at a time. And how then to play against the mighty Colorado offense, where else can Nazim Kadri come back? Three links?
Gennady Kurdin: “A badass would have torn his head off for that!”
You will recall that Kucherov is consistently beaten in the playoffs. So, a few years ago, when Tampa won its first of the last two Stanley Cups, after the Finals with Dallas, it was learned that Nikita was playing injections and suffered three rather serious injuries in the playoffs. It all started with the series opener with Columbus, after which it all came together. Kucherov felt pain, but endured. It talks about the character of the hockey player. Although if he or another player with such injuries hadn’t taken to the ice, the team would have treated it with understanding.
And last year, we learned that Kucherov had played with a broken rib in the last six Stanley Cup games. He suffered the injury in Game 6 against the New York Islanders. He played in pain, before each match he was given injections in the hospital, and the broken rib was close to the lung and could well pierce it.
Now we asked Gennady Kurdin, Kucherov’s first coach, to assess the situation. And he said:
“I wouldn’t specifically rate this episode, when Colorado defenseman Devon Toews attacked Nikita Kucherov on the boards. I hope everything will be fine there and that Nikita can continue in the final. He’s a guy with character. But note that after each playoff it turns out that Kucherov played with a lot of injuries, on injections. All rivals know perfectly well who should be knocked out with such blows and who recently underwent serious hip surgery, due to which he missed the entire regular season. After all, Kucherov was hit in the thigh. Earlier in the NHL, there were badass and the rivals did not allow themselves to attack the stars like that. Because you might still get an answer. The tough guys would have their heads blown off for that! And now they are gone. Therefore, star players do not hesitate to beat, realizing that if you turn it off, the whole series can be taken. Consider, for example, when Sidney Crosby was knocked out with Pittsburgh leading 3-1 in the series. And in the end, he lost this series…”
Tufgay helped Panarin
In fact, you’ll remember what the New York Rangers did when Washington enforcer Tom Wilson grabbed their star forward Artemy Panarin by the hair and banged his head against the ice with all his might. . That’s right, the New Yorkers signed badass Ryan Reeves to a contract the following season. After that, no one even dared to touch Khlebushka.
Tampa fans might say, “Well, we need hockey players. We are aiming for the Stanley Cups, we have each fighter in a special account. But how far will you go without Kucherov?
By the way, Pat Maroon is the second of this regular season (134). So Tampa more or less has a fighter. And after Kucherov’s injury, he fought, jumping over Andrew Cogliano, for which he received a 10-minute penalty.
But that means Marun has to intimidate more often, protecting Kucherov. Because every playoff they try to break Nikita hard. And it’s a miracle that he’s on injections, through wild pain, still out on the ice.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
