The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that center Steven Stamkos will miss tonight’s game vs Anaheim Ducks with a lower-body injury. They also announced that there is no timetable for his return.
Cooper said Stamkos is out of the lineup for tonight and doesn’t know when he will return.
— Caley Chelios (@CaleyChelios) November 23, 2019
Steven Stamkos To Miss Tonight
There is no indication of when Stamkos suffered the injury but he missed the final two periods of Thursday’s game vs Chicago Blackhawks. He only played 5:17 in the only period he played in.
So far this season, Stamkos has scored seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points to go along with two minutes in penalties. His possession numbers are 50.6 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of +0.7.
Stamkos has spent his entire career with the Lightning after being selected first overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. He has 400 goals and 386 assists for 786 career points in 765 career games.
What This Means for the Future
This is a huge loss for the Lightning as Stamkos is one of the biggest stars on their team and currently leads the team in goals and assists this season. Tampa Bay has gotten off to rather a slow start compared to last season and losing Stamkos doesn’t help their cause. Tyler Johnson will center the second line in Stamkos absence.
However, the Lightning did get some good news as winger Nikita Kucherov will return to the lineup tonight after missing Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury. He will play on the right side on the first line in tonight’s game. Kucherov has put up six goals and 12 assists for 18 points in 18 games. He has 194 goals and 286 assists for 480 in 465 career games. It will be interesting to see how the Bolts deal with having their star center out of the line-up.
Stamkos will look to possibly get back in the Bolts line-up on Monday as they host the Buffalo Sabres.
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