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Embarrassing Scene Involving Nikita Kucherov in Yesterday's Game Leaks as Footage Is Released

Originally posted on Habs Fanatics | By L. Honein | Last updated Jan 22, 2025 10:44 AM ET

Tampa Bay Lightning star forward Nikita Kucherov is a rather polarizing figure, despite being one of the best players in the world.

A sequence involving Kucherov drew significant attention last night, leading to a very soft penalty called by the officials against Mike Matheson.

See the footage here:

Essentially, Kucherov was clearly about to hook Lane Hutson, but after a rather light impact with Mike Matheson, he nearly fell backward and even stayed on the ice for a few moments.

The referees bought Kucherov's actions and called a penalty on Matheson.

A 'Soft' Penalty Called by Referees on the Sequence Involving Mike Matheson and Nikita Kucherov

This was a topic of discussion on the radio this morning. It's exactly the kind of sequence that's embarrassing for the league and understandably frustrating for Montreal Canadiens fans.

In the end, the Canadiens still came away with a 3-2 victory, thanks to an impressive comeback by Martin St-Louis' squad.

Let's just say this situation is far from what Brady Tkachuk did last weekend:

Finally, it's worth mentioning that the Canadiens will practice this morning at around 11:00 a.m. before flying to Detroit to face Dylan Larkin and the Red Wings.

Martin St-Louis will have another tough decision to make tomorrow night in net, especially after Samuel Montembeault's outstanding performance last night at the Bell Centre.

Details to follow.

This article first appeared on Habs Fanatics and was syndicated with permission.

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