The Tampa Bay Lightning is on the precipice of achieving a new high when it comes to losing players to a variety of injuries in a single season.
The Tampa Bay Lightning is on the verge of winning an award absolutely no one here in the Bolts Nation wants to sit on their mantle. The Lightning is on the precipice of reaching a new high when it comes to losing players to a variety of injuries in a single season.
As most Lightning fans know by now, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is sidelined until at least mid-March after having undergone successful surgery to repair a lateral tear in his right meniscus. In addition to the captain, alternate captain Ryan Callahan has been out since November 29th.
This brings the conversation to Lightning forwards Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat. Two-thirds of the Triplets line has been relegated to the sidelines since December 13th and 14th, respectively, with undisclosed injuries.
Tampa Bay Lightning
On December 20th, the Tampa Bay Lightning received some even worse news. Early in the first period as the Lightning were taking on their divisional rivals, the Detroit Red Wings, Lightning netminder Ben Bishop extended his leg in an attempt to make a save. While he made the save, it was at a much greater cost.
The team announced the following day that Ben Bishop would miss 3-4 weeks with a Lower-Body Injury. If everything goes perfectly according to plan, this means Bishop could potentially make his return on Thursday, January 12th as the Lightning take on the Buffalo Sabres. Of course, this is only under the best of circumstances.
This brings us to this morning. It seems as if Lightning forwards Cedric Paquette and Vladislav Namestnikov were not at this morning’s skate. While the team has yet to make any official announcement about any further injuries on the team, this is definitely not a good sign for the Boys in Blue.
Of course, the choice of words used by Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper following this morning’s skate is not exactly what one would call encouraging. In fact, it could easily lead people to believe there are yet more injuries on the horizon for the Bolts.
"“Don’t be fooled by the jersey colors,” Coach Cooper said. “We’re losing more players than we’re adding tonight.”"
While many are happy that some of the team’s younger players from the Syracuse Crunch are getting an opportunity to see what play is like at the NHL level, there is no denying the Lightning would like to get out of the red and start getting some of their core players back so they can continue to score goals and win games.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been forged by fire. In other words, the Lightning have made a name for themselves by continually overcoming adversity. Hopefully, the Lightning will be able to continue that tradition this season and make the best of the hand they have been dealt and really make something of the season.
The Bolts are faced with a new challenge tonight. Tonight, the Lightning will throw open the doors to the Amalie Arena and play host to the St. Louis Blues. The Blues are currently in third place in the Central Division and searching for the necessary two points to jump up a spot in the rankings.
Next: Bolts Who Need To Step Up In Absence Of Leadership
Let’s just hope, despite the injuries, the Tampa Bay Lightning are able to bring home the two points tonight and keep the Blues right where they are. The action is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. tonight. As usual, if you can’t make it to the game, you can catch all the action on Fox Sports Sun or on the go with the Fox Sports Go app.