Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov will not play and remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Kucherov, Tampa Bay's leading scorer last season with 66 points, was injured after falling heavily into the boards after losing an edge with six minutes left in the first period of a 3-1 loss at the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. "I know [Kucherov] is feeling much better [Saturday] and he's improving but definitely out," coach Jon Cooper said. "Every time one of your guns are out, it's not a good situation, but let's just hope it's only a couple games or just one game." Kucherov will be replaced by forward Cory Conacher, who had two goals and five points in four games for Syracuse of the American Hockey League. Conacher, signed as a free agent by the Lightning on July 13, is in his second stint with Tampa Bay. This will be his first NHL game since Dec. 4, 2014, when he was a member of the New York Islanders. "I've had experience with [Conacher] in the minors and coaching him and he's come a long way and the one thing that kid does is he competes really hard, he skates and he can shoot the puck," Cooper said. "With a guy like Kucherov out of the lineup you need someone to fill those shoes and we're hoping Cory can do it." Tampa Bay, which is playing the fourth game of a six-game road trip, has won five in a row against the Devils, including a three-game sweep last season.
