4:21 pm: Just minutes into Sunday’s game, the Lightning have now announced that Point is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. It’s a tough pill to swallow for the defending champions, who are now without Point and Nikita Kucherov for the foreseeable future.
3:39 pm: Per the Tampa Bay Times’ Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point isn’t taking pregame warmups and will be absent for Tampa’s game Sunday against the Minnesota Wild.
Point collided with the boards during Saturday night’s game versus the New Jersey Devils after he was tripped on a breakaway. Referees awarded him a penalty shot on the play, which he was able to take, and he stayed in for the rest of the game.
Hopefully, that means Point won’t be missing too much time. The Lightning have yet to give Point an official injury designation.
Point has four points in his last five games, but he was held scoreless by New Jersey in a tough loss Saturday, registering a -3 rating. With seven goals and 13 points through 16 games, Point is averaging the most ice time per game of his career at 20 minutes a night.
The 25-year-old Point has led the Lightning in goals for both of their back-to-back Stanley Cup victories.
Pointer is one tough kid. He hit the boards really hard after being tripped up. Really surprised he was able to take that penalty shot and finish the game the other night. Wishing him the best. The game is a lot more fun to watch with talented kids like him on the ice.