Nikita Kucherov has been one of the best players in the entire NHL this season. But following an incident in Game 4, Kucherov is now being called out by fans for exaggerating a hit he received.
The Tampa Bay Lightning tied their series against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday. Like the three previous games, it was a tight, one-goal game. Brandon Hagel scored the winner with just under five minutes left in the third period.
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Brandon Hagel game winning goal
Hagel also scored the 2–2 goal, giving him six goals and one assist in four playoff games. Both of Hagel’s goals were assisted by Nikita Kucherov.
“He’s the best player in the world. He’s been doing it consistently every single year. Yeah, I got the opportunity to play with him for many years, so maybe you can say I’ve gained a little bit of chemistry with him. But at the same time, you put that guy out with any five guys, he’s going to make the five guys around him better,” Hagel told reporters after the game.
Nikita Kucherov embellishment
But Nikita Kucherov is facing backlash after the game. In the third period, Kucherov was cross-checked by Jake Evans, who was given a two-minute penalty. Now, fans are saying Kucherov embellished the cross-check and are calling him out online.
“If you are going to call embellishment on Crosby and MacKinnon, you have no choice but to call it here. What a BS call,” one fan wrote on X.
“Guy is the biggest embellisher. He always does this, then he’s on the next whistle for the power play after acting hurt on the ground for three minutes,” another fan wrote.
“This was a dive. 100% dive. This doesn’t even happen in beer leagues,” a third one wrote.
“Kuch is going to injure himself for real if he keeps diving that hard,” a fourth one joked.
Game 5 will be played in Tampa on Wednesday.
You can watch the incident below.
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