BREAKING: Lightning Lose Franchise Player Minutes Before Tonight's Game

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced just minutes before their game tonight that one of their star forwards will miss the contest due to illness.

The team made the announcement just a few minutes before puck drop was scheduled to take place in Tampa Bay.

The team had to shake up their lines to accommodate the injury. Tampa's top line of Kucherov-Point-Hagel has been one of the best in the league this year but without Kucherov, the team will take a more balanced approach with their lines.

Both the Hurricanes and Lightning have been off to relatively quiet starts by both team's standards this year. Tonight's game thus brings a little added importance. especially with Kucherov out of the lineup for Tampa.

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