Lightning at Islanders
The Tampa Bay Lightning have two huge holes in their lineup to fill as they begin a season-ending four-game road trip Monday against the New York Islanders. With defenseman Anton Stralman (broken fibula) already out indefinitely, the Lightning announced Saturday that captain and leading scorer Steven Stamkos will miss 1-to-3 months due to a blood clot near his right collarbone.
Stamkos was diagnosed with a form of Vascular Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, the same problem that forced Lightning backup goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to miss the start of the season, and will undergo a procedure Monday before going on blood thinners. “Part of what makes it really difficult to win championships is staying healthy,” Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman told reporters after a 3-1 win over New Jersey on Saturday that put his team on the edge of clinching a playoff spot. “You try to give yourself a chance every year to hang around and get in there, and hopefully at some point, luck is on your side. For us, it’s an opportunity for other players.” The Islanders won’t feel too sorry for the Lightning as they have lost defenseman Travis Hamonic (lower body) and netminder Jaroslav Halak (lower body) for at least the rest of the regular season. New York holds the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and still has a shot at third place in the Metropolitan Division but needs to bounce back from a 5-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, TVA, FSN Florida (Tampa Bay), MSG Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (45-28-5): Tampa Bay will need more from its top scorers to make up for the absence of Stamkos, who leads the team with 36 goals, and Nikita Kucherov should draw more attention after netting five tallies in six games to reach 30 for the first time in his career. Defenseman Victor Hedman continues to shine with nine points in eight games and Yzerman said a recall of Jonathan Drouin – the former No. 3 overall pick who was suspended for two months earlier this season – will be considered. Ondrej Palat also has been providing more offense with 17 points in his last 15 games.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (42-26-9): Marek Zidlicky returned after missing 13 games with an upper-body injury to take Hamonic’s spot on the blue line, but New York gave up 33 shots and a pair of power-play goals Saturday. “It’s up to us how bad we want it and where we want to get to,” captain John Tavares told reporters. “I believe in this group, so it’s just disappointing the way we played (Saturday).” Tavares is one tally shy of recording his third 30-goal campaign in seven seasons and leads the club with 61 points – three more than Kyle Okposo, who has registered the second-highest total of his career.
OVERTIME
1. New York C Frans Nielsen has gone 14 games without a tally, still sitting one short of his second career 20-goal campaign.
2. Tampa Bay G Ben Bishop has limited opponents to two or fewer goals in 40 of his 58 starts this season but has allowed seven in two games against the Islanders this season.
3. New York G Thomas Greiss, who was rested Saturday, has won his last two outings since giving up six goals in a 7-4 loss at Tampa Bay on March 25.