TAMPA, Fla. — This Lightning season has had its share of ups and downs, but one thing the team has avoided is a major injury to one of its top players.
On a night in which Tampa Bay got top defenseman Victor Hedman back from what looked to be a scary injury Sunday in Carolina, captain Steven Stamkos left Saturday’s 3-1 win over Chicago at Amalie Arena with an apparent left leg injury.
Stamkos, who had shaken his injury-plagued past with his first 100-point season in 2021-22 and played all 66 games this season, appeared to hurt himself while trying to get back to his feet after falling to the ice battling for a puck against the boards in the offensive zone.
Late in the first period of a scoreless game, Chicago forward Joey Anderson fell on top of Stamkos, and as the play cleared Stamkos attempted to get back to his feet when his left leg appeared to give way. He immediately grabbed his knee area and struggled to put weight on the leg as he slowly skated to the Lightning bench.
Stamkos needed assistance trying to get to the tunnel, where he initially received treatment before heading to the locker room. He did not return to the bench for the beginning of the second period and was ruled out for the remainder of the game shortly afterward.
It’s been a wild week for the Lightning. Saturday, their top three forwards — Stamkos, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov — were benched by coach Jon Cooper for the third period of a loss in Buffalo. In Sunday’s lopsided loss in Carolina, Hedman slid awkwardly into the end boards and left the ice holding his lower back but missed just two games.
The Lightning entered Saturday’s game against the Blackhawks having lost nine of their last 12, though they saw improvement in Thursday’s overtime loss to the Golden Knights. But they quickly had to deal with the loss of their third-leading scorer while playing a forward short.
Point scored twice, including the game-winner with 59.7 seconds remaining, taking a pass from Nikita Kucherov and whipping a shot from the high slot past Petr Mrazek. Brandon Hagel added an empty-net goal with 2 seconds remaining.
Former Lightning forward Taylor Raddysh, who was dealt to Chicago last season in the Hagel trade, scored a tying goal 5:23 into the third period.
Cole Guttman captured the puck behind the Lightning net and found Raddysh in front. Raddysh beat Lightning goaltender Brian Elliott top shelf on the far side above his glove.
Point broke a scoreless tie 6:21 into the second period with a second-effort goal from in front of the net. Hedman drifted to the bottom of the left circle and found Point in front. Point’s first shot was stopped by Mrazek’s right pad, but Point put in the rebound. His team-leading 42nd goal of the season gave him a new career high.
The Lightning and Blackhawks were both sloppy, with the puck skipping around the ice and both teams struggling to sustain offensive zone time.
In the second period, Tampa Bay not only outshot Chicago 15-10, it had nine even-strength high-danger scoring chances in the period to the Blackhawks’ none.
Center Mikey Eyssimont nearly scored his first Lightning goal, forcing Mrazek to the ground before wrapping around the back of the goal. But his attempt swept clear of the open net and harmlessly along the crease.
Lightning center Anthony Cirelli briefly went down the tunnel toward the locker room following a collision with Blackhawks center Jason Dickinson in the second period but returned.
Hedman had an open short-handed breakaway chance in the final seconds of the second but shot high.
Starting the front end of games on back-to-back nights, Elliott finished with 22 saves on 23 shots.
