In addition to having goalie Ben Bishop taken off the ice on a stretcher, the Tampa Bay Lightning were also without forward Tyler Johnson to begin the second period.
Johnson was hurt after a knee-on-knee hit late in the first period. He tried to get out of the way of an oncoming Chris Kunitz hit but couldn’t fully avoid the contact.
The result was the knee-on-knee hit that left Johnson favoring his right leg. With assistance, Johnson slowly made his way off the ice and to the dressing room.
Updated: Johnson did return to the game around the midway point of the second period.
Now Tyler Johnson back on bench #tblightning
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) May 14, 2016
In 10 games this post-season prior to Friday’s tilt with the Pittsburgh Penguins to open the Eastern Conference Final, Johnson had 13 points.
The Lightning began the game without forward Steven Stamkos and defenseman Anton Stralman.