Tampa Bay Lightning center Tyler Johnson was forced to leave the game against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday after having his knee taken out by Nino Niederreiter.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has already done a heck of a good job at maintaining their composure tonight after tragedy has struck; however, it seems as if the Bolts (and their fans) are about to be put to the test once again.
Just over three minutes into the second period, Tampa Bay Lightning center Vladislav Namestnikov was forced to leave the game after having his knee taken out from under him at the hands of Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise. This time, it’s Lightning center Tyler Johnson who finds himself in quite a bit of difficulty.
Tyler Johnson was attempting to play the puck in the defensive zone along the boards when everything went haywire. Just after Johnson sent the puck back towards his partner-in-crime, Ondrej Palat, Johnson was slammed into the boards by Wild forward Nino Niederreiter.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Almost immediately, Tyler Johnson hit the ground and was clearly in a considerable amount of pain. Much like Vladislav Namestnikov, Johnson was face down on the ice and not doing a whole lot of moving; especially when it comes to his left leg.
Johnson would remain on the ice for what would seem like forever, while the play continued on the other end of the ice. Finally, the whistle would blow and Lightning Head Athletic Trainer Tom Mulligan would rush out onto the ice to assess the situation.
Unfortunately, it seems as if the Tampa Bay Lightning are about to lose another integral piece to the puzzle. What really burns Lightning fans the most is this one was much more intentional than the one against Namestnikov. (We’ll come back to this in a moment.)
As you can see in the video above (courtesy of SportsNet Canada), Johnson was not moving his left knee at all after the collision against the boards. Of course, the manner of the hit had a lot to do with this.
Niederreiter comes in on Johnson to make what was already a late hit on the play. Rather than minimalize the damage by squaring up on Johnson, or even making an attempt to avoid the collision altogether, Niederreiter intentionally comes in on Johnson with knee-to-knee contact, directly resulting in Johnson’s injury.
Of course, as can be expected from the fabulous officiating of the National Hockey League, there was no call made on the play. In fact, the current play continued on for quite some time while Tyler Johnson laid face down on the ice in agony.
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Let’s completely ignore the fact NHL official Francis Charron was standing there watching as the entire situation played out and elected to do absolutely nothing. Then again, it’s not as if anyone is truly surprised by this. It has become a pattern with him over the years.
No matter which way you slice this, the NHL Department of Player Safety needs to step in on this one. Beyond the fact, the proof is in the pudding on this one, and the incident was clearly caught on video, this is not the first time Niederreiter has been involved in injuring a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
If you’ll remember, it was November 5, 2016, when Niederreiter would be responsible for Johnson’s linemate Ondrej Palat missing a significant amount of time thanks to, guess what, a leg injury. Seems to be a pattern forming here, huh?
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In any case, we here at Bolts By The Bay would like to send our thoughts and prayers to Tyler Johnson. While we always hope an injury is never as severe as it looks, we’re not holding our breaths on this one. It looked pretty nasty. Here’s hoping Johnson makes a speedy recovery and is back out on the ice before we know it.