It appears that the primary reason for the recall of Conor Geekie was not whatever was ailing Luke Glendening, but a much more serious injury to Oliver Bjorkstrand. Following the Lightning’s morning skate prior to their game against the Buffalo Sabres, Coach Jon Cooper told the assembled media that Bjorkstrand is injured and set to be out “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury.
Injury update: #GoBolts forward Oliver Bjorkstrand is out week to week with a lower body injury, per coach Jon Cooper. “He’s really grown into his role with us, and hopefully we’ll have him back for playoffs at some point.”
— Benjamin Pierce (@boltsben.bsky.social) April 13, 2025 at 10:21 AM
The injury, which based on the timeline given by Coach Cooper, will carry into the playoffs, denying the Lightning one of their big trade deadline acquisitions. After a slow start to his Lightning career with just one goal in his first seven games, Bjorkstrand had started to heat up with four goals and four assists over his last eleven games. Four of those points had come on the power play, a unit that he brought a much-needed right-handed shot to.
After moving up and down the line-up during his first few weeks in Tampa, it appeared Bjorkstrand had found a spot on the third line, and despite a cavalcade of line-mates due to some players missing games and the nature of the 11/7 line-up, had started posting some pretty impressive possession numbers. In the Lightning’s last two outings (back-to-back 4-3 overtime losses) the team has controlled the play with him on the ice as Tampa Bay posted a 77.66% xGF% against Toronto and a 63.87% iGF% against Detroit during his shifts.
Detroit failed to register a high-danger chance against Tampa Bay while Bjorkstrand was on the ice, something that has happened five times during his short career with the Bolts. The 30-year-old forward is a true two-way forward and has shown that as he’s adapted to the Lightning’s system. Not having him for any stretch of time could be a big blow to a team hoping to make a deep playoff run after a series of first-round exits.
The Lightning do have a few games to work things out before starting the playoffs (most likely against the Florida Panthers) so expect some tinkering to the lines as the regular season plays out. During the Lightning’s morning skate, the freshly recalled Geekie skated on the third line with Nick Paul and Gage Goncalves.
