Kucherov tries to kick the legs out from under Mitch Marner, nearly slices him with his skate
The Leafs and Lightning met on Thursday night in Tampa and boy, oh boy, was it ever a wild affair. There were over 100 penalty minutes issued in the game, but perhaps one of the worst plays by the Lightning was one that went uncalled.
During the third period, with the game already well out of reach with the Bolts holding a significant lead over the Buds, Nikita Kucherov attempted to line up Mitch Marner, who was streaking through the neutral zone after dishing the puck. Kucherov would miss the hit, just clipping Marner. While the hit itself wasn't anything to be concerned about, what happened next certainly was.
After clipping Marner, Kucherov swung his leg around with his blade up off of the ice, striking Marner across the back of the right knee and sending him back to the Leafs bench in pain.
Whether it was intentional or not is up for debate, but it is worth noting that Kucherov is low key dirty and this wouldn't be the first time he did something questionable to attempt to injure an opponent.
Thankfully, Marner was not injured or cut on the play, surprisingly. Kucherov got away with on and Marner knew it, as he reviewed the play on the tablet when he got back to the bench.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 22 | 754 ANSWERS Kucherov tries to kick the legs out from under Mitch Marner, nearly slices him with his skate Is this a suspension-worthy play by Kucherov on Marner? | ||
| 100% | 562 | 74.5 % |
| Borderline | 153 | 20.3 % |
| Just a freak accident | 39 | 5.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
