The Tampa Bay Lightning are lagging behind the pace in the Atlantic Division, and injuries are becoming a complicating factor. Neither defensemen Erik Cernak nor Cal Foote was on the ice for their morning skate today after sustaining injuries in Friday night’s 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, according to The Tampa Bay Times’ Eduardo A. Encina. Mikhail Sergachev, who was also injured in that game, was present.
Tampa could be without both Cernak and Foote when they take on the Capitals in a rematch tonight. If neither is ready to go, no recalls will be necessary as Haydn Fleury and Philippe Myers are already on the active roster as healthy extras. The Lightning’s depth is doing little to support the strong play of its stars, a stark change from years past. They’ll need a gritty performance tonight to avoid dropping to .500 on the season.
- Jordan Greenway has been a rarely-seen presence in the Minnesota Wild lineup this season, with injuries limiting him to just two games. After suffering yet another upper-body injury, he’s not expected to travel with the team on their one-game road trip to Nashville early this week, according to Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He’ll miss that game and today’s home matchup against the Sharks, while Matt Boldy continues to slot in aside Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek in Greenway’s usual spot. Brandon Duhaime, who’s missed two weeks with an upper-body injury, is a possibility for the Nashville game.
- The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell reports that Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov participated in morning skate ahead of the team’s game tonight against Tampa, but is expected to miss his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury. Orlov is on injured reserve and remains day-to-day. The 31-year-old has five assists in 13 games.