Lightning struck by injuries, keep rolling
The Tampa Bay Lightning were without stars Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos and second-line center Anthony Cirelli for Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers.
The short-handed Lightning still managed to secure the home win, 3-1.
Kucherov, the NHL’s seventh-leading scorer with 70 points, has a lower-body injury. Stamkos missed his third consecutive game with a lower-body injury.
Kucherov suffered his injury in the second period of Tuesday’s 2-1 win against the Penguins when he got tangled with teammate Tyler Johnson.
Cirelli also is dealing with a lower-body injury. Lightning coach Jon Cooper told reporters Thursday morning that Kucherov and Cirelli were considered day-today and likely will avoid injured reserve.
The Lightning entered Thursday’s game as the hottest team in the NHL, winning eight consecutive games. Kucherov, last season’s Hart Trophy winner as the league’s regular-season’s Most Valuable Player, has been outstanding of late, scoring 10 goals with 21 points over his last 12 games.
Rangers
Igor Shesterkin earned the right to be New York’s No. 1 goalie, coach David Quinn said. The 24-year-old rookie, who made his debut Jan. 7, is 6-1-0 with a 2.18 goals-against average and .941 save percentage in seven games. Asked if Shesterkin had become New York’s No. 1 goalie, Quinn said, “Right now, that is the situation we’re in because of his play, for sure.”
“You want to give everybody an opportunity and see how this thing unfolds. I thought everybody had an ample opportunity and everybody had a chance to state their case. I just felt that Igor had made the most impact.”
The Rangers have had three goalies on the roster since Shesterkin’s debut, along with Henrik Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev. Georgiev started in Thursday’s 4-3 shootout win against the Minnesota Wild because Shesterkin is dealing with a lower-body injury. Lundqvist was the backup. Georgiev allowed three goals on 26 shots. He settled in after two first period goals, and allowed the Rangers to rally and eventually force a shootout. Both shooters whom Georgiev faced in the shootout missed.
Stars
Dallas placed right wing Alexander Radulov on injured reserve with an upperbody injury. The roster move is retroactive to
Tuesday, meaning Radulov will not be eligible to return until Feb. 18 and will miss Dallas’ next three games.
Bruins
Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara was fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for cross-checking Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher during Wednesday’s game. The incident occurred at 5:38 of the second period. Chara was assessed a minor penalty for cross-checking.