During the last game against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak left the ice early in the second period after blocking a shot on the penalty kill and didn’t return for the rest of the game. It’s not the first time this season Erik Cernak couldn’t finish the game due to injury, earlier he sustained an injury during the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets and missed two games. So far the team has not released any update on the status of the player and Cernak remains day-to-day with a lower body injury and is questionable for tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars.
However yesterday, the Syracuse Crunch recalled defeneseman Devante Stephens, which might be an indication that the Lighting could bring another defensemen to their taxi squad. Currently the Lightning have six defenseman on their active roster (given that Erik Cernak is injured) and one on the taxi squad (Andreas Borgman). Borgman hasn’t played a single game so far for the Lightning since signing a deal last October, although Jon Cooper has been mentioning many times that he will definitely get a chance.
Syracuse has recalled defeneseman Devante Stephens from Orlando . . could be a precursor to a correlating move regarding the Erik Cernak situation it #TBLightning are bringing up, say Ben Thomas (just speculating). If Cernak is out, TB carrying 6 Dman, plus Borgman on taxi squad
— Lightning Insider (@Erik_Erlendsson) February 26, 2021
If Cernak’s out, the Lightning will potentially replace him with Luke Schenn, who hasn’t played since the last Monday. During the last Cernak’s absence, Scheen had seen the highest ice-time of this season, playing around 13-15 minutes per game, despite rarely reaching the 10-minute mark in other games. Another possibility for the Lightning is bringing up Borgman to equally distribute Erik Cernak’s ice time between him, Cal Foote and Luke Schenn, while running a 11/7 roster.
Lightning Links
Jon Cooper reflected on latest games, admitting that the team wasn’t playing very good, but managed to find their game last week.
“When things aren’t going right you have to find a way.”#CARvsTBL | Jon Cooper: https://t.co/FrJllQMV7U pic.twitter.com/fWhrsHY2jd
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) February 26, 2021
Mathieu Joseph has become a new guest of the Lightning’s show “The Block Party“
.@MathJoseph7 shines on The Block Party this week. ⚡️
Watch: https://t.co/F61gXgdPPI
Listen: https://t.co/vj0wGcDSx0 pic.twitter.com/aghL2ZemVs— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) February 26, 2021
The Orlando Solar Bears scored three quick goals during the first period and managed to keep the advantage until the final.
Read up on how it all went down in tonight’s @AdventHealth Postgame Report:
— Orlando Solar Bears (@OrlandoHockey) February 27, 2021
Hockey News
According to Pierre LeBrun, the former Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford is ready for a new job.
Jim Rutherford’s resignation as GM of the Penguins on Jan. 27 blindsided everyone.
His reasons for it remain his own.
His desire to work again, however, is stronger than ever.
“I still got the bug.”@PierreVLeBrun | @TheAthletic https://t.co/AoA2a2MEJs
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) February 26, 2021
The Toronto Maple Leafs forward and the NHL’s goal scoring leader is day-to-day with hand injury.
Leafs centre Auston Matthews (hand) will not practice today and is listed as day-to-day.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) February 26, 2021
The Minnesota Wild have extended their winning streak to six game after last night’s victory against the Los Angeles Kings, while Kirill Kaprizov’s chances to win the Calder Trophy keep increasing.
Words can’t describe how impressive of a skater Kirill Kaprizov is. pic.twitter.com/gNq8NozClZ
— NHL (@NHL) February 27, 2021
The WHL’s shortened regular season have finally started last night.
Drop the puck 🏒 pic.twitter.com/BypHemapdh
— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 26, 2021
