Lightning’s Kucherov out 8-10 weeks after undergoing surgery
By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Hockey Writer
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov is expected to be out 8-10 weeks after undergoing an unspecified surgery for an unspecified lower-body injury. Kucherov was injured Oct. 16 in Tampa Bay’s third game of the season. He doubled over in pain after an innocent-looking collision in the third period of the Lightning’s game at Washington. Coach Jon Cooper said two days later that Kucherov would be out for a while. The team put Kucherov on long-term injured reserve not long after. Kucherov was Tampa Bay’s leading scorer on each of the past two Stanley Cup runs. He missed the entire regular season last year recovering from hip surgery.