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Lightning Round: Jon Cooper believes Steven Stamkos is going to be OK

Brayden Point set a new career-high with 43 goals this season

Another scary episode happened during the yesterday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks in the first period, when a Blackhawks forward Joey Anderson fell on Steven Stamkos near the boards and stayed on him for several seconds while battling for the puck. After getting up, Stamkos was clearly struggling with putting weight on his left leg and immediately went down the tunnel to the dressing room. It was announced later that he wouldn’t return for the rest of the game.

During his post-game press conference, however, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was optimistic, saying that the Lightning captain is going to be OK, and keeping him out of the rest of the game was a precaution. Reportedly Stamkos was seen in the locker room after the game, while walking without a limp. He’s expected to be evaluated today.

That happened just six days after Victor Hedman suffered an injury during a game against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Swedish defenceman missed two straight games this week, returning last night against Chicago.

The Lightning defeated the Blackhawks 3-1 on Saturday night. Brayden Point scored twice, Brandon Hagel added an empty-net goal at the end of the game. Taylor Raddysh scored the only goal for Chicago, while two other former players from the Lightning organization, Tyler Johnson and Cole Guttman, assisted on that goal [Raw Charge]

Should they have blown out Chicago based on their spots in the standings? Sure, but the ‘Hawks have been playing hard over recent weeks despite fielding a weakened roster after the trade deadline. Parity in this league still means any team can win on any given night and the Bolts can’t just throw their sticks on the ice and expect to win. The underlying stats were a little more favorable for the Bolts as they dominated the high-danger chances (16-8) and expected goals (3.33 to 2.13) at 5v5. They are doing a better job of getting back to the front of the net and generating chances, something that was virtually non-existent during their losing skid.

With two goals yesterday, Brayden Point set a new career-high in a single season with 43 goals. He’s now third in the NHL in a goal scoring race, behind only Connor McDavid and David Pastrnak.

The Syracuse Crunch rebounded after last night’s win, beating the Rochester Americans last night.

Hockey News

Here are the last night’s result from the NHL.

The Boston Bruins have become the first team to secure their playoff spot this spring.

The Washington Capitals have re-signed defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk to a three-year contract extension.

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