The Tampa Bay Lightning enter tonight’s contest against the Los Angeles Kings without the assistance of forward Alex Killorn, who served as a late scratch.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been forced to deal with an extraordinary amount of injuries this season. In fact, it’s gotten to a point where many Lightning fans crawl out of bed in the morning and cringe at the thought of checking their phone and seeing yet another player making their way to the injured list.
While Lightning fans may have escaped that particular pain this morning, the privilege would not last until puck drop. Just before puck drop tonight at the Amalie Arena, where the Tampa Bay Lightning are taking on the Los Angeles Kings, the Lightning announced Alex Killorn would be a late scratch.
Initially, the team gave no reason for Killorn’s absence; however, as the time until puck drop continued to progress, it was announced Alex Killorn was scratched due to an undisclosed injury. At this point, there has been no official word as to the extent of Killorn’s injury or how long he’ll be required to miss.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Killer has definitely cemented his place on the team as of late. On July 17th, Alex Killorn signed a seven-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, cementing his place here until the conclusion of the 2022-23 season. He could’ve taken more money elsewhere, but decided this is where he wanted to be.
The 27-year-old Lightning Halifax native has played in 53 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning this season. In that amount of time, Killorn has managed to bring home 16 goals and 12 assists for a total of 28 points.
Three of the aforementioned goals and three assists were picked up in his last five games.
All season long, the Lightning have been forced to deal with various players being away from the ice; some more long-term than others. Getting players like Killorn back on the ice will help the Lightning move forward with the mission at hand, getting back to basics and salvaging the remainder of the season.
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While the Tampa Bay Lightning may seem like an improbable choice for the postseason this year, they are not in an impossible situation just yet. If the Bolts can start to find the consistency they started the season with, there is hope for them yet. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how this story plays out.