Lightning Superstar Faces Suspension After Vicious Hit on Matthew Tkachuk

Tkachuk was coming off the boards and heading towards the puck when Kucherov stuck his knee out and collided head on with him which Tkachuk signaled to his trainer to come out immediately as he knew there was something wrong.

After flailing on the ice for a little while, he was helped off the ice by his trainer and another player with no weight on his knee. He was seen going down the tunnel as he was evaluated by his medical staff.

Incredibly, a short time later he was back on the ice testing his legs and it appears that he was OK, and he remained in the game afterwards.

Kucherov was handed an automatic ejection from the game with a kneeing major which means he will be facing the department of player safety likely within the next few days.

Both players are having interesting seasons as Kucherov has played 30 games, scored fifteen goals with 35 assists for 50 points is a + 13 with 17 Penalty minutes.
Tkachuk has been a little less productive as he has played 31 games, scored thirteen goals with 22 assists for 35 points and is a - 5

Collisions like this likely mean either a suspension or a fine and it depends on how the NHL views the outcome of this as Tkachuk was able to return to the game and played for the remainder of it.

But these kinds of collisions can and should be avoided as knee injuries can be lethal to any NHL or hockey career.

The final score in this game was 4-0 for the Lightning with Kucherov scoring a goal.