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Coburn and Drouin leave the game as Tampa Bay Lightning injury woes continue

The full list of Lightning injuries is now up to nine starting players: Bishop, Callahan, Coburn, Drouin, Kucherov, Palat, Paquette, Namestnikov and Stamkos

Just three days ago, we published a piece detailing five injured Lightning players. Since then, four more starters have joined the list. Here is a brief recap of when each player was injured.

The Lightning now have 35.7 million dollars worth of players benched for injuries, accounting just under half of the NHL salary cap (73 million).

Let’s approach the injuries in chronological order. For tonight’s news, skip down to “No official statement.”

Steven Stamkos

Date of injury: Nov. 15, 2016

Type of injury: Lateral meniscus tear

What happened: Stamkos got injured in the first period after fighting for the loose puck. He limped off the ice and didn’t return.

Status: Long-term injury reserve. Tweeting at former teammates.

Projected return: mid-March

Ryan Callahan

Date of Injury: Nov. 29, 2016

Type of injury: Lower-body injury

What happened: Callahan had a hip injury that required surgical repair over the summer. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Callahan re-aggravated his hip injury.

Status: Technically listed as day-to-day, but has not practiced with the team in a few weeks. No updates have been provided about his possible return date.

Nikita Kucherov

Date of injury: Dec. 13, 2016

Type of injury: Lower-body injury

What happened: Kucherov left practice early on December 13. He joined the team on their road trip out West and took part in the optional morning skate the following day, but he didn’t play that night and hasn’t played since.

Status: He practiced in a gray jersey yesterday, but did not take part in contact drills.

Ondrej Palat

Date of injury: Dec. 14, 2016

Type of injury: Undisclosed

What happened: After playing about nine minutes of the game Dec. 14, Palat left the game and never returned.

Status: He practiced with the team in a regular jersey yesterday.

Cedric Paquette

Date of injury: Dec. 14, 2016

Type of injury: Lower-body injury

What happened: After playing about nine minutes of the game Dec. 14, Palat left the game and never returned.

Status: He joined the team for pregame rushes yesterday, but was scratched as a game time decision. He was scratched again today.

Ben Bishop

Date of injury: Dec. 20, 2016

Type of injury: Lower-body injury

What happened: Ben Bishop blocked what appeared to be a harmless shot, but left Tuesday’s game in the first period and did not return.

Status: He was evaluated Wednesday and the team announced he’s out for three to four weeks.

No Official Statement

The Lightning have made no official statements about the remaining players on this list, but all have missed playing time.

Vladislav Namestnikov

Last game played: Dec. 20, 2016

What happened: No idea. Your guess is as good as mine, but he missed morning skate yesterday and was scratched for that game as well as tonight’s game.

Braydon Coburn

Last game played: Dec. 23, 2016

What happened: Coburn took a high hit from Capitals forward Tom Wilson in the second period, finished that shift, and did not return to the game.

Jonathan Drouin

Last game played: Dec. 23, 2016

What happened: Drouin got tangled up with Capitals forward T.J. Oshie. He left briefly and returned to the game, before finally leaving the game in the second period.

After the game, Coach Jon Cooper offered no formal update on Coburn or Drouin, but stated that both players were being evaluated.

Other Concerns

Victor Hedman left briefly in the second period, but returned for the third period. It’s unclear if there will be any long-term ramifications for him, but hopefully he was simply banged up on the play.

Andrei Vasilevskiy was up-ended in his own net before being pulled in favor of Kristers Gudlevskis. Hopefully this was simply a precautionary measure against the onslaught of injuries.

No player in the system is safe as Tampa Bay Lightning prospect and forward for Team Canada’s U20 World Junior Championship team Mitchell Stephens dealt with his own injury scare in the Canada-Switzerland pretournament game this evening.

Closing Thoughts

This has to be some kind of record. Lightning players are falling left and right, requiring seven different players to be recalled over the last 11 days. The Bolts have had two back-to-back deep playoff runs, sent the most players to the World Cup of Hockey, and continue to have mandatory morning skates before most games. Those issues, combined with the NHL’s condensed schedule, may be contributing factors to this recent rash of injuries.

The winter break could not be coming at a better time for this team. They need days off to heal if they want to have any chance at chasing Lord Stanley’s Cup this summer.

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