Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Big Game By Nikita Kucherov Puts The Tampa Bay Lightning One Game Away From Advancing

04/19/2018 at 7:17am EDT

from Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times,

Bachman-Turner Overdrive's Taking Care of Business shook the walls of the Lightning locker room not long after it dispatched the Devils in Wednesday's Game 4 of their first-round playoff series.

The 3-1 win was sparked by Nikita Kucherov, who put his game into overdrive with two goals, an assist, a game-high seven shots and a big first-period hit that might have set the tone for the rest of the game.

"For sure," J.T. Miller said. "Any time you see one of your top offensive players and one of the best in the league offensively hit a guy like that, that's a big-time hit. That gives the group a spark. I think that was a big part of the first period.

"When he's involved, engaged physically like that, it sends a message to the team that everybody's got to be engaged. This is a big game, and from there on out, we played a really solid game."

Kucherov's hit on Sami Vatanen near the Devils' bench knocked the defenseman from the game with an upper-body injury and sparked retaliation and several minor scuffles.

continued

Watch the game highlights below and the Kucherov hit on Vatanen if you missed it last night.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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