Kucherov day-to-day with lower-body injury after blocking shot

It appears Nikita Kucherov's injury isn't serious.

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced Monday that the reigning Hart Trophy winner is day-to-day with a lower-body injury after he left Saturday's game versus the Washington Capitals.

Head coach Jon Cooper said that Kucherov could be back in the lineup as early as Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators, but he would have to heal pretty quickly to do so, according to Bryan Burns of the team's website. Cooper added that the star forward should play before Christmas, per The Athletic's Joe Smith.

Kucherov got in the way of a heavy one-timer from John Carlson:

Kucherov heads to the locker room after taking a Carlson shot off the leg pic.twitter.com/atWJDaomZf

- NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) December 15, 2019

The 26-year-old Kucherov has 10 goals and 24 assists in 30 games this season after recording 128 points a year ago.

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