Nikita Kucherov will not play tonight, likely due to injury

Kucherov skating on his own, not doing drills. Gingerly skating and working on turns. Not a good sign for tonight #tblightning

That’s not a headline I ever wanted to write, but here we are.

This is actually the darkest timeline. Hopefully it’s something minor that doesn’t keep the Russian Assassin out of the lineup for a long time, but the idea of playing even a handful of games without him is enough to make even the most optimistic fans panic.

The Lightning organization has not commented on exactly why Kucherov is missing tonight’s game, but throwing fists against the Penguins on Saturday probably isn’t doing him any favors.