Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cedric Paquette will be a game-time decision tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets as he continues to struggle with a lower-body injury.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are no strangers to injuries. In fact, it would seem as if the two are on a first name basis after the way the 2016-17 season went. As the Lightning forge through the start of their 25th Anniversary Season, the team had hoped the injury struggles were a thing of the past.
Unfortunately, this is not quite how things have been playing out thus far.
According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper has said he is not sure whether or not Lightning forward Cedric Paquette will be able to take the ice with his teammates tonight. Because of this, Paquette is currently considered to be a game-time decision.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Paquette has been struggling with a lower-body injury this season, as he was forced to miss the Lightning’s encounter with the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 12, which resulted in a 5-4 victory for the Bolts. It seems as if the injury may be flaring up once again and could cause him to miss tonight’s encounter.
Smith says if Paquette is not good to go tonight against the Blue Jackets, Lightning fans can expect forward Gabriel Dumont to tag in for him. As J.T. Brown and Slater Koekkoek remained out on the ice for practice, it would seem likely they are to be the Lightning’s healthy scratches against the Blue Jackets.
Cedric Paquette may not be your traditional goal-scorer like Lightning captain Steven Stamkos and forward Nikita Kucherov, but Paquette fills a role left abandoned by many Lightning players. The 24-year-old center is a pest in every sense of the word. He is one who is capable of breaking up plays and knocking his opponents off the puck, while at the same time, he is one of the first to drop the gloves in defense of a teammate.
It is unknown at this point how this particular story line is going to play out tonight. As we have said many times before, chemistry is a large part of the success of a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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While we would have absolutely no issues seeing Dumont in the lineup, there is an already existing chemistry that involves Paquette, and coming into a game the Lightning would really love to bring home a ‘W’ in, chemistry could be the key.