Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh was forced to leave the game against the OTtawa Senators in the first intermission on Saturday night. After the game, head coach Jon Cooper failed to specify any part of the injury, stating only that McDonagh would be “doubtful” for the Sunday afternoon double header against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Ryan McDonagh will not return tonight, per #tblightning
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) January 5, 2020
There are many speculating the source of McDonagh’s injury, whether it was a high stick early in the period or a high hit by Matthew Tkachuk midway through the frame that forced McDonagh to leave. There was no blood so the injury might be some sort of break or perhaps a concussion. Until the team is back home and McDonagh is looked at more closely by the medical staff will we know.
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Joe Smith of The Athletic posted a video on Twitter that is a strong candidate for the act that took McDonagh out of the game. It was a quick, sharp check by Tkachuk into the glass at the start of the Sens first power play. McDonagh didn’t leave the ice after the hit, playing almost the full penalty kill before heading off while his partner, Jan Rutta, did leave for Mikhail Sergachev, who covered the majority of the successful penalty kill.
Not sure what the injury was for Ryan McDonagh, but he took a high hit from Tkachuk, plus an inadvertent elbow to the head from White. Asked Jon Cooper if a concussion was ruled out, but he didn’t elaborate on status other than McDonagh is “doubtful” for Sunday’s game in Carolina pic.twitter.com/dvDKe2Mijh
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) January 5, 2020
Looking ahead to McDonagh’s replacement for the next game, it looks like Braydon Coburn will step in to take the vacant spot in the lineup as well as some of the load at even strength and on the penalty kill. His veteran presence and fresh legs will be a big help against Carolina on Sunday.
As for taking on the workload of McDonagh, it looks like that responsibility will fall upon Sergachev and Victor Hedman. Heddy is used to playing in the neighbourhood of 20 minutes per night at even strength throughout his career, as he did in the game on Saturday logging 21:33 at even strength. Including almost four minutes in penalty kill time and a couple minutes on the power play, Hedman skated a total of 28:13 on the front half of a back-to-back.
As for Sergachev, his usage has slowly been going up as the season has gone along. Starting with 17 minutes per game, Sergachev is a solid 20-minute per night player, including power play and penalty kill responsibilities. After McDonagh was only able to skate for 7:52 on Saturday, Sergachev played 20 minutes at even strength, a minute on the powerplay, and almost three minutes on the penalty kill for a grand total of 24:34.
In addition, the fact that Sergachev only played with three different defensemen, none of whom were named Victor or Hedman, means the Lightning can rely on two capable pairings moving forward.
This post from Joe does a good job of explaining Sergachev’s development as a properly-rounded defenseman. Looking at the stats, Sergachev either leads all Bolts defenseman or is right behind his partner, Kevin Shattenkirk, in shot attempts against, expected goals against, and scoring chances against rates.
With Ryan McDonagh out – both tonight, and if he misses more time – Mikhail Sergachev will carry a larger load. ICYMI on Sergachev’s evolution into a two-way force, and what that might cost #tblightning this summer as RFA (@CapFriendly offers projections). https://t.co/3WL1nCJ71a
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) January 5, 2020
Lightning Links
- The schedule for the Lightning is set to get easier, just as the team is heating up.
- The World Juniors conclude today, with Canada facing Russia for Gold and Sweden facing Finland for Bronze.
- Toronto won, Boston lost, so the Lightning still are three points back with three games in hand on the Leafs, but are now only nine points back of the Bruins with as many games in hand./
