Todd McLellan discusses potential revenge against Nikita Kucherov for dirty trip on Michael Rasmussen
Photo credit: https://x.com/RyanHanaWWP/status/1883345567331557782
Will the Red Wings look to punish Tampa's Nikita Kucherov for his dirty actions in their last meeting in late January against Michael Rasmussen?
It's the final game for the Detroit Red Wings before the NHL breaks for the 4 Nations Faceoff, which will halt all action until later in the month.
The Red Wings host the divisional foe Tampa Bay Lightning at Little Caesars Arena this afternoon (1:00 PM, ABC, ESPN+, 97.1 The Ticket), and there remains one incident from the last time the two teams played one another that Detroit fans haven't forgotten.
Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov blatantly stuck his stick into the skates of Michael Rasmussen as the latter was preparing to score an empty net goal as part of Detroit's 3-1 victory on January 27.
Rasmussen careened into the net, which came off its moorings; although he immediately rose to his skates, he was later seen requiring assistance to make it down the tunnel toward the Red Wings' dressing room.
Kucherov escaped punishment for the incident, though many feel he should have been suspended as a repeat offender - or at the very least, fined.
What does Todd McLellan think of the idea of confronting Kucherov in response to his actions from late January?
I want to see us play a good, hard hockey game. Ras is fine. We can think about that all we want, but where we're at, what we've accomplished to this point, we need to keep moving the team forward, and the focus has to be on playing hard and playing a good 60 minutes.
It takes everybody to beat them and that's what our focus will be.
It takes everybody to beat them and that's what our focus will be.
Rasmussen avoided what could have been an injury
The good news for the Red Wings and Rasmussen is that even though he appeared to have been injured on the dirty play, he was healthy enough to continue playing by the next time the Red Wings hit the ice.
Right now, McLellan has his players focused on getting a pair of key points rather than getting revenge.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 8 | 154 ANSWERS Todd McLellan discusses potential revenge against Nikita Kucherov for dirty trip on Michael Rasmussen Should the Red Wings attempt to confront Nikita Kucherov today? | ||
| Yes | 95 | 61.7 % |
| No, let it go | 59 | 38.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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