The Tampa Bay Lightning need to win their second game of the young NHL season. They’re preparing to tackle a Detroit Red Wings team with three straight wins under its belt. Unfortunately, they are going to not have superstar forward Nikita Kucherov on the ice once the puck drops Friday night.
Kucherov was ruled out of the sport before it began. The Lightning announced he had come down with an illness. Consequently, the team will probably be without one in all its primary superstars and the most effective players in the sport. Young forward Gage Goncalves will take his spot on the primary line right wing.
Kucherov is a very important a part of the Lightning’s offense, in addition to one in all its best players in franchise history. The Russian superstar is seeking to construct upon a 2024-25 campaign that saw him record 115+ points for the third straight 12 months. He finished with 37 goals and 121 points in 78 games.
He was a significant a part of Tampa’s dominant run within the late 2010s and early 2020s. The Lightning won two straight Stanley Cups and made a 3rd Final appearance from 2020 to 2022. He recorded 30+ points in 2020 and 2021 to assist Tampa win the Cup. And in 2022, he finished the postseason with 27 points.
Unfortunately, the Lightning haven’t made it back to the Stanley Cup Final since 2022. Actually, they have not made it past the primary round within the three postseasons since. They lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2023 before falling to the Florida Panthers in each of the last two seasons.
The Lightning are off to a little bit of a slower start this season. Tampa dropped its first two games of the season, allowing 10 goals across those contests. They eventually won their first game over the Boston Bruins on October thirteenth. Nevertheless, they dropped their most up-to-date game to the Washington Capitals.