Stamkos suffered a broken leg in the Monday afternoon Lightning-Bruins game after crashing into the post. He is scheduled to have surgery for the broken right tibia and is out indefinitely. Stamkos is tied for the league's lead in scoring with Sidney Crosby of the Penguins and was to be a key player for Team Canada at the Sochi Olympics this coming February.
Stamkos backchecked on a play late in the second period and got tied up with Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton. They both went into the net hard, but it was Stamkos' left skate that hit the post and his right leg crashed into it in the shin area. He went down to the ice in pain and grabbed his leg above the ankle.
A stretcher was brought out and Stamkos was taken off to applause. He had both hands on his face in apparent pain as well as pain that he won't be able to skate for the Lightning indefinitely.
Coach Jon Cooper said, "It's obviously tough to see him go down, not only for our team - he's one of the best players in the world."
I'm not going to argue with that. He is one of the best players in the world. But since he is the leading goal scorer and very important to this Lightning team, it's going to be hard for them to deal without Stamkos for an extended period of time. I think they'll survive but they're not going to stay in first place in the Eastern Conference and that's because of how well the Bruins and Penguins are playing. This is a tough loss that the Lightning will have to contend with, but right now, I think Martin St. Louis and Ryan Malone can keep this team's spirits up and be able to help them win games. It's tough to lose a highly skilled player like Stamkos but the Lightning will have to deal with his absence for games to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment