The Tampa Bay Lightning will be off until Wednesday morning where they will take the ice to prepare to take on the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have drawn the short end of the stick this season when it comes to injuries. It seems every time the Lightning get back one of their major players, another one seems to fall to one malady or another. Needless to say, this is a pattern every Lightning fan would like to see come to an end.
After finally snapping their four-game losing streak with a 2-1 shootout win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at the Amalie Arena, the Lightning lost a hard-fought battle with the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 in overtime on Sunday night. Following suit, the Lightning was without a member of the team.
Just before game time, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin would not be taking the ice with the team due to an undisclosed injury. As one could easily imagine thanks to the word “undisclosed,” the Lightning have made no mention of the nature of his injury or how long he’ll be away from the ice.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Right now, the Tampa Bay Lightning have four players officially listed on their injury list. The one who will be on said list the longest is Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. Stamkos will be on the sidelines until at least mid-March after requiring surgery to repair a lateral tear in his right meniscus.
Next on the list is Lightning alternate captain Ryan Callahan. Callahan has been on the injured list since November 29th with a Lower-Body Injury. On December 1st, it was announced that Callahan had been placed on Injured Reserve. This means Callahan would be sidelined a minimum of seven days.
Now, if Ryan Callahan’s recovery has been going according to plan, there is a slight chance Cally could be ready to rejoin the team on the ice on Thursday when the team takes on Vancouver. Of course, this is purely speculation at this point. There has been no official announcement from the team regarding Callahan’s status.
According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, the Lightning will be off until Wednesday morning when the Lightning takes the ice for practice. This initially may sound crazy, but this may be the best thing that could possibly happen for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Many of the injuries on the team are minor, and even those not listed on the injury list are nursing some bumps and bruises they’ve earned over the course of the last few games. A couple of days off to relax, decompress, and recoup may be exactly what the team needs in order to get things back on the right track.
Despite the injuries, the Tampa Bay Lightning have all the pieces to the puzzle in order to get things back on the right track and get back to scoring goals and winning games. In order to get back on the right track, the team will need to clear their heads and get back to their system. A few days off gives them the perfect opportunity to clear things up.
As we mentioned before, the Lightning will charge back into the Amalie Arena on Thursday night to take on the Vancouver Canucks. All the action is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m.
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