Fresh off of a good, not great, end to 2023, the Tampa Bay Lightning embarked on a three-game road trip to begin 2024. They hoped a new year would bring about better luck on the road.
Unfortunately, this road trip was a mirror image of most others this season, as the Lightning ended up with a losing record of 1-2. Even more concerning, they earned two of a possible six points.
Injuries contributed to a tough loss in Winnipeg, with Erik Cernak and Haydn Fleury both hurt in the New Year’s Eve game against Montreal and not on the trip. Mikhail Sergachev also remained out, moved from a day-to-day status to long-term injured reserve (LTIR). That forced the Lightning to ice a lineup containing 13 forwards and five defensemen. Ultimately, a good start wasn’t enough to overcome the lack of healthy blue liners.
Speaking of injuries, they continued to mount as this road trip progressed. Tanner Jeannot left in the second period of the trip’s final game against Boston with a ‘significant’ lower-body injury, per head coach Jon Cooper. It’s expected that he will miss extended time.
With so many injuries on the back end, the Lightning called up defensemen Sean Day and Declan Carlile prior to their game in Minnesota. Carlile made his NHL debut on January 4 and played well in approximately 12 minutes of ice time. He was sent back down immediately after debuting, though, with Jack Thompson and Emil Lilleberg being recalled. Both made their NHL debut versus the Boston Bruins.
Darren Raddysh was the hero of this game, though. Needing contributions from everywhere, Raddysh had the first two goals in a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. Victor Hedman chipped in with a power play tally of his own before Brandon Hagel sealed the deal by scoring into an empty net.
To end the week, Nikita Kucherov was named an All-Star and performed like one in a tough loss to the Atlantic Division-leading Bruins. He had three points to pull the Lightning within one after 40 minutes, but Boston pulled away in the final frame.
Can the Lightning find the formula to winning on the road? While unknown, a healthy team would help them attempt to make a playoff push in these final few months.
ITR 39: Conference Finals – Inside The Rink
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