Victory in Motown tempered with loss of Stamkos

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
November 15, 2016

The Lightning pulled out a victory on Tuesday, but it’s what they lost that carries plenty of concern.

Nikita Kucherov scored his second goal of the game with 1:10 left to go to lift Tampa Bay to a 4-3 victory at Joe Louis Arena as the Lightning took both games of a back-to-back after defeating the Islanders in New York the night before.

But it’s what happened earlier in the game to captain Steven Stamkos that has many holding their breath.

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During a play in the first period, captain Steven Stamkos was engaged along the wall with his legs stretched out while battling Gustav Nyquist. Stamkos fell to the ice and spun around on his knees and rolled over. As he regained his footing, his got back on his skates and after taking a quick stride immediately grabbed at his right knee and flexed it back and forth before heading straight for the Lightning bench.

After a quick conversation with head medical trainer Tom Mulligan, Stamkos limped back to the locker room and did not return.

The team put out an update during the second period that Stamkos suffered an undisclosed lower body injury while head coach Jon Cooper told reporters after the game that they would not know the extent of the injury until he underwent further testing on Wednesday.

Ken Campbell of The Hockey News reported Tuesday night that the Stamkos’ knee locked up and he was set to undergo an MRI.

“You hate to lose any guy, but especially one of the best players in the world,” Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman told NHL.com.

Stamkos had recently scored his ninth goal of the season to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead when he swept in a rebound of Hedman’s shot at 6:09, building on a Kucherov goal at 3:30 of the first.

The Red Wings pulled one back late in the period to cut the deficit to 2-1, but Nikita Nesterov restored the two-goal lead with a power play goal 1:29 in to the third period to make it 3-1.

Detroit tied the game on power play goals from Ryan Sproul and Henrik Zetterberg before Kucherov finished off a three-point night by sweeping in a rebound off a blocked Braydon Coburn shot.
It was a gritty win for the Lightning.

Having played the night before in New York, the Lightning not only had to deal with the loss of Stamkos, but Cedric Paquette was knocked out of the game for a brief period of time after absorbing a questionable hit from Steve Ott in the second period. That play also saw Brian Boyle off the ice for nearly a period after he was handed an instigator penalty – which carries 17 minutes in penalties – for taking on Ott following the hit. Coburn was also lost for a short period of time after taking a puck off the inside of his right knee.

“We just kept playing our game,” Kucherov told NHL.com. “We did what we are supposed to do, and the goal finally came.’’

Now, they will wait to see if good news will come on the injury front.”

Postgame notes: LW Jonathan Drouin (upper body) and D Anton Stralman (upper body) were scratched along with D Luke Witkowski. … D Nikita Nesterov had his first career two-point game. … D Victor Hedman picked up his 190th career assist, moving him past Brian Bradley and in to sixth place on the all-time franchise list. … Tampa Bay allowed more than one power play goal in a game for the first time this season.

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