TAMPA, Fla. _ The Lightning will pay for Nikita Kucherov's frustration by having to face their mounting playoff challenge without their biggest star.
The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety suspended Kucherov for Sunday's Game 3 match against Columbus for boarding Markus Nutivaara in Game 2 on Friday. It was a moment in which emotions boiled over but now holds larger ramifications.
Late in the third period, Kucherov tripped Nutivaara at the goal-line, sending the defenseman sprawling. As Nutivaara tried to get up, Kucherov skated up and drove him into the boards.
The league ruled that Kucherov delivered "a dangerous hit on a player in an exposed, defenseless position." It also stated that Kucherov's hit exemplified message sending, coming late in a game against an opponent the Lightning will face again on Sunday.
"While we understand frustration often occurs late in the game, dangerous or retaliatory plays delivered in the final minutes of a playoff game will be viewed in context and punished accordingly," said the ruling video.
Jon Cooper kept his thoughts on the hit to himself. After the game, John Tortorella called it self-explanatory.
The Lightning look to erase a 2-0 deficit, something Tampa Bay has only done once before to win a series. The absence of Kucherov and his 128 regular-season points makes the challenge even more difficult.
Columbus out-played the Lightning convincingly in a 5-1 victory in Game 2 after negating Tampa Bay's three-goal lead in Game 1.
"Obviously you can't replace a Kucherov with his skill and the way he sees the game, what he brings to our team," Ryan McDonagh said. "So the only thing we can do is try to rally around it and everybody raise their level a little bit more here."
Kucherov wasn't the only player to show frustration in Game 2. Brayden Point engaged in a fight with Zach Werenski in the first period, down 2-0. Victor Hedman joined the scrum that resulted from Kucherov's hit and received a misconduct. While the officials sorted out the penalties, Hedman started chirping at Columbus' bench.
Kucherov is the only one sitting out Game 3, though.
Kucherov's past problems with frustration have resulted in different reactions. In prior seasons, he might take plays off or appear to check out when things weren't going his way. This year, Cooper and Steven Stamkos have praised Kucherov for not letting his frustration show.
"It's a tough emotion to control," Cooper said Saturday. "It comes a little bit with age, but it's a tough one. It shows you the passion players have and how much he has for the game and to win. There can be a fine line there. It's a growth test; he'll have to grow from this."
Kucherov tested the limits in last year's playoffs. He delivered a massive hit to New Jersey's Sami Vatanen in Game 4 of the 2018 first-round series. The league didn't suspend Kucherov that time, but it was a different type of hit. He delivered the blow on the open ice, but he did not leave his feet or make initial contact with the head.
The Lightning took line rushes without Kucherov in practice on Saturday. Cooper said he knew what he'd do with Kucherov and had to figure out what it looked like without him.
Judging by practice, the answer was an Ondrej Palat-Brayden Point-Tyler Johnson line and Ryan Callahan returning to the fourth line.
McDonagh suggested mixing up the lines could be refreshing. The Lighting's top two lines sure looked stale in Game 2.
"We've been preaching since Day 1 that we have some of the best depth in the NHL," J.T. Miller said. "I have confidence in the group. I know we all do as well."
Callahan's return could be a good thing brought about by a bad thing. He has 119 playoffs games in his nine-year career, including 15 games in the Lightning's run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year.
The Lightning looked to Mathieu Joseph's speed and Adam Erne's size over Callahan's experience in the latter half of the regular season. But Callahan could add a spark to a team in desperate need of a jolt.
