Kucherov injured, Lightning defeat Panthers in Game 4

TAMPA -- Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists before leaving with an injury, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Florida Panthers 6-2 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup First Round at Amalie Arena on Saturday.

Kucherov went down and grabbed his left knee at 10:57 of the third period after being slashed by Panthers forward Anthony Duclair, who received a minor penalty. Kucherov skated off the ice on his own but put little weight on his left leg.
"I didn't see the replay," Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said. "Obviously, you don't want to see that, but we'll probably see it on the replay in the room. We'll keep that inside our room. We know what to do, we're an experienced group. We know how to handle adversity and different ups and downs in the series. If it's a dirty play, I'm sure it will get looked at."
Kucherov, who missed the regular season after having hip surgery on Dec. 29, has scored nine points (three goals, six assists) in the series.
"When you see him go down and he stays down, it's very concerning," Lightning forward Alex Killorn said. "I didn't see the play or whatever happened, but guys on our team aren't going to stay down unless they are really hurt. … Hopefully he's going to be OK."

Killorn had two goals and two assists for the Lightning, who are the No. 3 seed in the Discover Central Division and lead the best-of-7 series. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 39 saves.
Jonathan Huberdeau and Carter Verhaeghe scored for the Panthers, No. 2 seed. Sergei Bobrovsky made nine saves on 14 shots before being replaced in the second period by Chris Driedger, who made 11 saves.
Tampa Bay can win the series in Game 5 at Florida on Monday (8 p.m. ET; CNBC, FX-CA, TVAS, BSFL, BSSUN).
"Just go back home and forget about this one," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "We played well in their zone, had some shifts in their zone, but they found a way to score goals. That's unacceptable. We have to find a way to eliminate those. Go play in front of our home fans, get excited and play the right way for 60 minutes."
Anthony Cirelli gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 3:00 of the first period, shooting five-hole on a breakaway. Yanni Gourde pushed the lead to 2-0 with a deflection of a shot from Kucherov at 7:24.
"I just tried to get to the front of the net, tried to screen the goalie," Gourde said. "And I tried to have a step on the side so any rim out I can get to the puck from behind the net. I was fortunate enough to see the puck the whole way and get a stick on it."
Huberdeau cut it to 2-1 at 8:49 with a power-play goal, and Ondrej Palat made it 3-1 at 16:45 when he deflected Erik Cernak's shot.
"You look at this game, and it looked like we were out of it, but I don't think that was the feeling," Panthers defenseman Anton Stralman said. "I don't think we gave up a lot of chances. The ones we did give up were just too good."

Killorn tapped in a centering pass from Kucherov on the power play at 5:41 of the second period to extend the lead to 4-1. He then scored off a pass from Steven Stamkos at 7:15 to make it 5-1.
"'Kuch' has added definitely another level to this power play," Killorn said. "He's one of the best, if not the best, half-wall guy in the entire NHL. He makes players around him a lot better. For me, he gives me a tap-in tonight."
Tampa Bay is 7-for-15 on the power play in the series.
"They're opportunistic," Florida coach Joel Quenneville said. "Their power play is pretty dangerous, and I say pretty dangerous, extremely dangerous. Some of the looks, that's where they had the quality, and they don't need much. We have to be better on that PK."

Verhaeghe scored on the power play to make it 5-2 at 18:45 of the second period.
Kucherov scored a power-play goal to make it 6-2 at 4:47 of the third period with a one-timer from the right circle.
"We came here to win a hockey game, and we did," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "The power play was outstanding. The penalty killing got the job done. We gamed it out. We've got better in us, we know that. We've come here to win four, we've only won three. We still have to get another one.
"We have to be better with our emotions and not getting caught up in the antics that are going on in a game. We can be more physical. We can be a better hockey team. But I like where we're sitting at in the series, and believe me, we'll be bringing it two nights from now."
NOTES: Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev left the game at 16:24 of the third period after being hit into the boards by Patric Hornqvist. ... Driedger was pulled after two periods in Game 3 and replaced by Bobrovsky, who did not allow a goal in a 6-5 overtime win.