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As the Tampa Bay Lightning attempt to solidify their playoff position and develop consistency in the regular season's home stretch, the team saw captain Steven Stamkos limp off the ice Saturday night with an apparent injury to his left leg in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The #TBLightning announce Steven Stamkos is done for the night. Here's the play where he was injured. https://t.co/9vAbQCOG7T
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 12, 2023
Stamkos grabbed at his left leg as he fell awkwardly to the ice. The collision with Chicago's Joey Anderson was not a violent one, but Stamkos struggled to get to his feet, and when he did, it was clear that he was struggling as he made his way back to the Tampa Bay bench an eventually to the locker room.
The Lightning announced shortly thereafter that Stamkos would not be returning to the game. Stamkos has had a series of injuries throughout his stellar career with Tampa Bay, but he has been relatively healthy this season.
Many of his injuries have been lower-body injuries, including a broken leg, and he has also been sidelined in the past with a core injury.
Stamkos has 27 goals and 39 assists to this point in the season, and he has long been one of Tampa Bay's core players along with Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiiy.
While the Lightning have the talent and depth to survive for a game or two without their captain, a serious injury to Steven Stamkos would represent a major blow to their postseason chances.
The Lightning defeated the Blackhawks 3-1, as Point scored two goals in the victory and Brandon Hagel added an empty-net goal.
