Tampa Bay Lightning Star Nikita Kucherov Learns His Suspension Fate From The NHL After Hit on Matthew Tkachuk
Nikita Kucherov hit Matthew Tkachuk with an illegal knee-on-knee play on Monday, and now he's learned his suspension fate from the NHL's Department of Player Safety following a game misconduct and major penalty being assessed on the play.
The NHL has always been one of the most physical leagues in the world, but sometimes it gets taken way too far with illegal hits, and we saw yet another example of that on Monday night.
During the Battle of Florida between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers, Matthew Tkachuk was taken down with a knee-on-knee hit from Nikita Kucherov, one that earned him a five-minute major and a game misconduct.
While Tkachuk was clearly in pain after the play, he would ultimately return to the game, with the Panthers fans in the arena giving him a huge standing ovation for his return as the superstar forward was thankfully not injured long-term like many feared initially.
Since the deadline of 5pm EST has passed, the NHL's Department of Player Safety appears to have made a decision and not suspend Nikita Kucherov.
Over his career, Kucherov hasn't been one of the worst players in the NHL when it comes to dirty plays, but he has popped up now and then with dirty plays to his opponents.
Thankfully for Tkachuk, it appears that he will be okay and should be good to go when the NHL resumes on December 27th.
