Tampa Bay Lightning F Jonathan Drouin Will Not Return Against Islanders
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin has been listed as Day-to-Day with an Upper Body Injury after an elbow to the head by New York Islanders defenseman Calvin de Haan.
The Tampa Bay Lightning and their fans must be experiencing a serious case of déjà vu tonight as they take on the New York Islanders. It seems the injury bug has already become quite fond of the Bolts this season.
The Lightning charged into the Barclays Center tonight in the hopes of finishing off their six-game road trip right with a win over the New York Islanders. Unfortunately for the Lightning, the game did not start off in the manner one would have hoped.
Just 1:42 into the first period of play between the Lightning and the Isles, Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin would attempt to play the puck out of the neutral zone and into the Lightning’s offensive zone. Unfortunately for Drouin, he was met with the business end of the elbow of Islanders defenseman Calvin de Haan.
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Needless to say, Drouin wouldn’t remain on his feet for long. In fact, he’d find himself tumbling to the ice rather quickly. On the bright side, Drouin would be able to make it off the ice under his own volition and back to the Lightning bench. The bad news, the look on his face was a pretty good indicator he’d gotten his bell rung.
Unfortunately for the Tampa Bay Lightning, this was not the worst part of their night in Brooklyn. After a quick evaluation on the Lightning bench, Jonathan Drouin would head back down the tunnel and to the Lightning locker room with Head Athletic Trainer Tom Mulligan.
This would be the last time anyone would see Drouin on the ice in the first period.
As the buzzer sounded to end the first period of play, there was no update to be had on Jonathan Drouin’s condition. The same thing could be said during the intermission.
Unfortunately, the Tampa Bay Lightning and their fans received some bad news at the start of the second period. The Tampa Bay Lightning would announce that Jonathan Drouin had sustained an injury and would not be returning against the New York Islanders.
This is definitely not good news for the Bolts. Drouin is in the three-way tie for third place on the team with two goals and three assists through eight games. The speed and stick-handling skills of Jonathan Drouin are hard to replace on the ice.
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As we mentioned earlier tonight, the penalties that followed the incident were a little lopsided, but we’ve got a sneaking suspicion when de Haan’s phone rings tomorrow morning, it will be the NHL Department of Player Safety on the other end of the line.
Given the fact that Drouin sustained an injury on the play, there is a good chance de Haan is looking at a 1-2 game suspension for his involvement in the incident. Of course, this could change if de Haan has any other Player Safety infractions to his name.
The Lightning have not offered up the nature or extent of Drouin’s injury. The team also has not been incredibly giving in terms of how long Drouin may or may not be away from the ice. We’re sure after the dust settles and the Lightning make their way back to Tampa, the bigger picture will start to come into view.
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