Lightning lose rookie Brayden Point for 4-6 weeks

The door to the Lightning trainers’ room/medical office should remain permanently open. When one player comes back, it’s like two others go down.

In a season of adversity, the Lightning announced Wednesday that rookie Brayden Point will miss four to six weeks with an upper body injury.

It’s an injury we believe is in the hand and/or arm area after Point took a slash and a slapshot to the arm during Wednesday’s overtime win over the Canadiens.

Compressed schedule? World Cup? Bad juju? WTF?

— Alexandra (@Allovimo) December 29, 2016

Point was one of six Lightning skaters to have played all 36 games thus far. Now that he’s out, that just leaves Victor Hedman, Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Braydon Coburn and Andrej Sustr to have played every game as the Bolts’ season inches to the halfway mark.

In his rookie season thus far, Point has three goals and 12 assists for 15 points and -5. Point’s absence leaves a big hole on the power play. Close to half of Point’s points (seven) — and all three goals — have come with the man advantage.

Additionally, he’s been consistency seeing over 19 minutes of ice time in the last handful of games. His season/career high was 23:33 against the Oilers on Dec. 17.

Every injury is a blow to the Lightning and their organizational depth but there’s something cruel to take away up to six weeks of his rookie season of a player who was finding his way and cementing his spot on this team.

Cooper: "Right when you think you're taking steps to get healthier, we take two steps back. Point was really coming into his own."

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 29, 2016

The Lightning take on the visiting Maple Leafs at 7:30 tonight.