The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without a significant player for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN / Peacock) as forward Alex Killorn will be sidelined with a lower-body injury.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said that Killorn is “day-to-day” for the rest of the series with the injury.
Killorn was injured midway through the Lightning’s Game 1 win on Monday when he blocked a Jeff Petry shot. He played just four shifts after that and played only a few seconds in the third period.
While Killorn is not one of the Lightning’s top stars, this is still going to be a pretty significant loss even in the short-term.
Killorn has been at his best this postseason, having already scored eight goals to go with nine assists in the Lightning’s first 19 playoff games. His eight goals place him second in the league this postseason behind only teammate Brayden Point, while his 17 points are fourth best in the league.
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Even more than the point totals is the fact that Killorn plays in every situation.
He is one of their top producers at even-strength.
He plays more than 2:30 per game on the power play.
And he is also one of the Lightning’s regulars on their penalty kill.
And he has made a noticeable impact on all three of those phases this postseason.
That is not going to be easy to replace.
The Lightning have been known to dress 11 forwards and seven defenders in situations like this, but it does not appear they are going to go that route on Monday as Luke Schenn (who would be the seventh defender) remained on the ice after the morning skate to get in extra work. It is likely that Mathieu Joseph will be inserted into the lineup on place of Killorn.
CANADIENS VS. LIGHTNING - series livestream link
Game 1: Lightning 5, Canadiens 1
Game 2: Wed. June 30: Canadiens at Lightning, 8 p.m. ET (NBCSN / Peacock)
Game 3: Fri. July 2: Lightning at Canadiens, 8 p.m. ET (NBC)
Game 4: Mon. July 5: Lightning at Canadiens, 8 p.m. ET (NBC)
*Game 5: Wed. July 7: Canadiens at Lightning, 8 p.m. ET (NBC)
*Game 6: Fri. July 9: Lightning at Canadiens, 8 p.m. ET (NBC)
*Game 7: Sun. July 11: Canadiens at Lightning, 7 p.m. ET (NBC)
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.