Nikita Kucherov gets away with another hit from behind
The Toronto Maple Leafs won a big game against their divisions rivals the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was also quite a night for Michael Bunting who seemed to be the center of attention. Bunting opened the scoring for the Leafs and he also took a nasty cheap shot from Nikita Kucherov. Bunting was headed toward the corner boards where the puck was in the skates of Mark Giordano. Bunting's head and his focus was the puck. As Bunting tried to pry free the puck, Kucherov slammed him from behind. Bunting's head hit the glass and Kucherov was assessed a two-minute minor for interference.
The overall game did not go very well for Tampa Bay last night. They were beat soundly and the score could have been a lot worse if it weren't for Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. Kucherov seemed to be frustrated at times and took it out on Bunting. It was a lousy hit and Bunting could have really gotten hurt on this play.
It was a blatant attempt to injure another player. Kucherov is lucky he didn't get a five-minute major on the play. Likely because Bunting wasn't injured. The Player Safety Department should really review this play and think about judgement for Kucherov. If your job is to the protect the health and safety of the players, then Kucherov should receive some type of punishment. We'll have to see if it ever gets to that point.
| POLL | ||
Who is the dirtiest superstar in the NHL? | ||
| Nikita Kucherov | 24 | 25.5 % |
| Brad Marchand | 49 | 52.1 % |
| Sidney Crosby | 5 | 5.3 % |
| Someone else | 16 | 17 % |
| List of polls | ||
