MOSCOW, Jan 3 Head coach of the National Hockey League (NHL) club » Tampa Bay Lightning «John Cooper said that the team's Russian forward Nikita Kucherov should return to games in mid-January. The 28-year-old has played three games this season, scoring 4 (1 puck + 3 assists) points, after which he was eliminated from for injuries to the lower body. At the end of October, he underwent surgery, the recovery period was supposed to be 8-10 weeks. «I do not expect him to play Columbus (January 4), but I hope that after that he will join any day after that,» he said. Cooper Kucherov completely missed the last regular season due to injury.