SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk had to be helped off the ice and taken to the locker room following a collision with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov during Monday night’s game.
Kucherov crashed full-speed into Tkachuk’s right leg late in the first period, causing Tkachuk to fall and grab at his knee. He remained down for a couple minutes until a team trainer helped him off. He didn’t appear to put any weight on the leg.
Kucherov was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for the hit.
Tkachuk is second on the team with 13 goals and 22 assists in 30 games this season.
The Lightning led Florida 3-0 at the end of the first period thanks to goals by Kucherov, Jake Guentzel and Mitchell Chaffee.
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