The Lightning have placed defenseman Ryan McDonagh on injured reserve, per the league’s media site. The lefty departed Saturday’s win over the Capitals with an undisclosed injury. Placing McDonagh on IR only rules him out for tomorrow’s game against the Rangers, but head coach Jon Cooper told reporters earlier today he expects McDonagh to miss a few contests (via the team’s Benjamin Pierce).
McDonagh joins center Dominic James as Bolts skaters who were banged up against Washington and are landing on IR today. The placements will give the Bolts roster space to make corresponding recalls from AHL Syracuse in advance of tomorrow’s contest, although they’ll likely wait until Wednesday morning to announce those. Not only are James and McDonagh out, but captain Victor Hedman and depth forward Pontus Holmberg also sustained undisclosed injuries against the Caps and are listed as day-to-day and doubtful for tomorrow, according to the team’s Gabby Shirley. That’s four players sustaining injuries in one game for those keeping score at home.
As things stand, the Bolts can ice 18 skaters tomorrow without Hedman and Holmberg but won’t have any extras. Still, that assumes Anthony Cirelli – who practiced today but missed the Washington game with an upper-body injury – and defenseman Maxwell Crozier, who’s missed two games with an undisclosed issue, will be cleared to play. With McDonagh on IR now, Tampa can make two recalls from Syracuse without more corresponding moves.
McDonagh is the Bolts’ No. 3 defender this season in terms of usage at 20:10 per game, but he’s still playing like a top-pairing threat in his age-36 season. The 16-year vet is fresh off receiving his first Norris votes in six years and has started this year strong with three goals, six points, and a +1 rating in 15 outings. He ranks third on the team with 26 blocks and leads Tampa defenders with six takeaways.
The increasing injury problems make the Bolts’ recent 7-1-0 surge to get back into a playoff position all the more important after starting the year 1-4-2. They’ll look to depth names like Crozier and Charle-Edouard D’Astous to step up and help mitigate the damage, which shouldn’t be too tall of a task against a Rangers offense that’s been limited to 2.41 goals per game this season.
How does Tampa always have players join there team you’ve never heard of and they usually do good?
McDonough is known