Nikita Kucherov under fire for dirty play on Saturday night.

Tampa Bay Lightning star forward Nikita Kucherov is facing a barrage of criticism on Sunday after a dirty play on Saturday night that left another player injured.

Kucherov and the Lightning faced off against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday and it would be Kucherov's actions in the final seconds of that game that would draw the ire of fans and pundits alike.

The Red Wings had a 1-0 lead with roughly 30 seconds left to go in the game when Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen got a partial breakaway towards the Lightning's empty net. Rasmussen was being chased down by Kucherov on the play but had a clear step on his opponent, and when Kucherov realized that he wouldn't catch Rasmussen in time he decided instead to take out the Red Wings forward.

Kucherov would do so by taking a whack at Rasmussen's skate, appearing to intentionally trip Rasmussen right as he went to put the puck into the empty net. In spite of managing to score, Rasmussen would go crashing hard into the net as a result of the trip and would quickly retreat to the Red Wings locker room after being shaken up on the play.

Not only was this an entirely unnecessary display of poor sportsmanship on the part of Kucherov but it was also one that could have led to a serious injury. The fact that Rasmussen went into the net and avoided contact with either of the posts proved to be rather fortunate as things could have been much uglier.

Should the NHL or the Department of Player Safety get involved here? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.