On the scoreboard, the Tampa Bay Lightning are looking sharp so far against the Minnesota Wild. Heck, even Andrej Sustr has a goal.
We’ve seen some big comebacks lately, so it’s not safe to assume that the Bolts will just cruise to victory. Yet, even if they do, Thursday could pose some problems.
The Lightning are crossing their fingers about injury situations for forwards Tyler Johnson and Vladislav Namestnikov after separate moments of concern.
Johnson needed help off the ice after a collision (possibly knee-to-knee) with Wild forward Nino Niederreiter while Namestnikov also needed help off the ice following an awkward fall, which you can watch below. The Johnson injury is included in the clip above this post’s headline.
With Steven Stamkos injured and Brian Boyle shuttled off to Toronto, these injuries could make the Lightning especially thin at center. It’s unclear how bad either ailment is at this time, however, so we’ll see.
We do know that neither will return tonight, though:
Injury update: Both Tyler Johnson and Vlad Namestnikov are out with lower-body injuries and will not return to tonight’s game. #MINvsTBL
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 10, 2017
Update: The good news for Tampa Bay is that they won 4-1. The bad news is that ANOTHER Lightning forward got hurt, as Cedric Paquette also left Thursday’s game.
Hedman: "It's never fun to see and watch guys in pain and being carried off like that." #MINvsTBL
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 10, 2017