FORT LAUDERDALE | Matthew Tkachuk almost had his right knee torn off by Nikita Kucherov on Monday: he escaped without consequences, but will remember it.
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The Tampa Bay Lighting star targeted Tkachuk’s knee on Dec. 23, received a five-minute penalty and was ejected from the game, but will not be suspended by the NHL. This doesn’t seem to move Tkachuk.
“It’s not my decision, but we’ll deal with it in our next match against them, that’s for sure. You don’t want to see this kind of thing happen to a teammate. I know the guys weren’t happy and I wasn’t either.”
The Panthers and Lightining had just faced off in a home-and-home series before the Christmas break. They will see each other again on March 3.
Ice and swimming pool
When Tkachuk left the game in the first period, we undoubtedly feared the worst for the Panthers, who could have lost their second pointer for an extended period.
“It was very painful. I went back to the locker room, and they examined my knee to rule out all possibilities, and I was then able to manage the pain, so I gave it a try,” explained the striker, who returned in the game in the second period.
“I was lucky! I had to listen to the medical staff over the Christmas break, but I spent a lot of time in the pool and applied a lot of ice,” Tkachuk laughed.
