Tough blow for the Lightning hours prior to Game 7

This is not comforting news. 

On Friday morning, as the Tampa Bay Lightning jumped on the ice for the optional skate ahead of tonight’s Game 7 against the New York Islanders to decide which teams moves on to face the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final, there was no sign of star forward Nikita Kucherov. 

As you know, Kucherov played a single shift in Game 7 in New York as he was taken out with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. The team calls it for now an undisclosed injury sustained early in the first period of Game 6. He left after his first shift, 2:22 into the first period as he appeared to jam his right arm or shoulder while hitting Islanders center Mathew Barzal. He struggled to finish the shift and went to the dressing room with a Lightning trainer. He was however also also cross-checked from behind by New York defenseman Scott Mayfield earlier in his only shift, which lasted 46 seconds. No penalty was called was called on the play. 

Kucherov leads the NHL with 27 points (five goals, 22 assists) in 17 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs after he missed the entire 56-game regular season while recovering from hip surgery he had Dec. 29.

Head coach Jon Cooper, who shared no update on his star forward since Game 6, said if Kucherov can’t play the Lightning have to look at it as an opportunity for someone else to make a difference. He did say he wasn't sure Kucherov was going to suit up for the contest. 

At the optional skate, Erik Cernak was present, after missing the last two games with upper body injury. 

The loss of Kucherov for this do-or-die Game 7 would be the ultimate blow for the club, looking for back-to-back championships. However, the team will keep saying that it played 56 games without him as the Russian player missed the entire regular calendar after undergoing hip surgery in the offseason. 

Kucherov led the NHL in the 2020 playoffs with 34 points (seven goals, 27 assists) in 25 games, helping the Lightning win the Stanley Cup. No matter who comes into the lineup for him, there is no replacing Kuch…