Shea Weber slashes Nikita Kucherov, gets away with it

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber slashed Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Nikita Kucherov during the late stages of Monday night's opening game of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena. 

It happened with under four minutes left in the third period with the Lightning holding a 4-1 lead. Kucherov took the pass across the Canadiens blue line, delivered a pass to a teammate and was attempting to position himself in the corner of the ice.  With Kucherov not looking, Weber took his stick and whacked him in the back of his left knee.

   

Kucherov went down, but got up relatively quickly and continued playing.  Weber did not receive a penalty, despite an official being in position behind the net, seemingly in a good position to see the play.  Unfortunately, we cannot identify the official from the video, but they deserve to be called out for missing this one.

Kucherov got the last laugh, however, as two minutes later he delivered an assist to Steven Stamkos on a power play goal to close out a 5-1 victory and give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. Kucherov had already contributed two goals, both in the third period. 

[SportsNet]

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About Michael James

Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.