The Tampa Bay Lightning have reached the point where they need to get back on the ice.
The slumping Lightning, snared in a four-game losing web (0-3-1), have been idle since last Thursday’s 2-1 shootout loss to Philadelphia. They will continue their three-game homestand Thursday when they face the NHL’s hottest club, the Winnipeg Jets, to finish the season series.
While most coaches would view a week-long break early in the season as a detriment to a fledgling routine, it was thought to be a timely one for the Lightning to get Brayden Point healed up and back centering the top line.
Injured in Winnipeg on Nov. 3 after playing just six shifts, Point would be a welcome addition as the fifth-place Atlantic Division squad tries to get its footing.
However, the Lightning called up Gage Goncalves on Wednesday morning, and Point did not practice, putting his return in doubt. The 23-year-old Goncalves played in place of the top-line center the past two games.
Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak, injured blocking a shot, has been skating with the starters and appears to be on the brink of a return, but all eyes have been on Point’s reinsertion into the lineup.
The 28-year-old Calgary native ranks second on the club with eight goals and is tied for third in points with 13. He tops the forwards at plus-nine and has netted a club-high five power play goals while in the bumper spot on the top unit.
“First of all, we have to get healthy,” said coach Jon Cooper, whose team is winless in November. “There are guys in our lineup who are playing and are fighting through stuff just to play. … It will probably be a little bit of a reset here for us.”
Winnipeg’s 7-4 triumph over the Lightning nearly two weeks ago was its third in a league-high seven-game winning streak, and nothing the opposition has done so far has worked to keep the Jets firmly planted on the tarmac.
The NHL’s best team through approximately one-sixth of the season has only suffered one loss — a 6-4 home defeat against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 28 — and, unsurprisingly, tops the league with a plus-39 goal differential.
The Central Division club’s amazing run to 7-0-0 on the road continued in the Big Apple on Tuesday night as the three-game road trip kicked off with a 6-3 win over the New York Rangers.
However, the rear guard took its first hit this campaign when Logan Stanley was left behind in Winnipeg due to injury. Coach Scott Arniel narrowed down the ailment by saying the 6-foot-7, 231-pound defenseman has a “mid-body” injury.
“We just felt it was time to shut it down,” Arniel said. “He’s playing in a lot of pain. We’ll see how he is when we get home.”
Haydn Fleury replaced Stanley and skated 13:18, Mark Scheifele set the tone with the first of his two goals in the opening minute, and Kyle Connor added a pair as the Jets beat the Rangers and won for the 15th time in 16 matches.
“We’ve got a lot of comeback wins and got a lot of wins when we’ve closed out the third (period),” said forward Mason Appleton.
