Lightning’s Kucherov to have hearing Saturday for boarding Nutivaara

Watch as Nikita Kucherov trips up Markus Nutivaara and then hits him dangerously into the boards resulting in a scrum between the teams.

Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov will have a hearing Saturday for boarding Columbus Blue Jackets defender Markus Nutivaara during Game 2 of the clubs’ first-round series.

The incident in question occurred late in the third period, with Columbus playing out the final few minutes of a 5-1 victory. As Nutivaara stumbled to the ice and scrambled on his knees along the boards, Kucherov lined the defender up and laid him out, with a chaotic scrum ensuing soon after.

Kucherov received a five-minute boarding major and a 10-minute game misconduct for the incident.

With the pair of losses in tow, the Lightning head to Columbus for Game 3 down 2-0 in the series.

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