Nikita Kucherov's night ended early on Monday.
The Tampa Bay Lightning forward received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for kneeing Florida Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk late in the first period.
The incident happened with just over three minutes remaining in the opening frame. Tkachuk went to poke the puck away from Kucherov, who collided with Tkachuk knee-on-knee. The 27-year-old Panthers forward immediately called for trainers and was helped off the ice.
Tkachuk was able to return for the second period.
The Lightning forward was assessed a five-minute major, which was upheld upon review.
Kucherov, last season's Art Ross Trophy recipient as the league's top scorer, is tied for fourth in points this year, with 49 in 29 games (14G, 35A). Prior to this misconduct, Kucherov had only registered two penalty minutes this season.
He scored the game's opening goal in the first period before his ejection. The Lightning lead the game 3-0.
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.