Brayden Point

Tampa Bay Lightning F Tyler Johnson A Game-Time Decision Against Hurricanes

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:32 a.m. ET

Fansided, Tasha St. Pierre/FanSided via Bolts by the Bay

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Johnson has come down with an illness and will be a game-time decision tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The injury bug is hard at work again trying to take one final player from the Tampa Bay Lightning before the ball drops and 2016 becomes a thing of the past. The bad news is, Lightning fans won’t get much clarity on the issue until the team hits the ice later tonight for their pregame skate.

According to Tampa Bay Lightning Beat Writer Bryan Burns, Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper said forward Tyler Johnson was not feeling well this morning. As you can imagine, he was sent home from morning practice in order to prevent whatever it is that’s ailing Johnson from spreading to someone else on the team by minimalizing contact.

Unfortunately, this means Tyler Johnson will be a game-time decision tonight as the Lightning prepares to continue their home stand as they face off with the Carolina Hurricanes. This is definitely not good news for the Tampa Bay Lightning or their fans.

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In light of the recent (and kind of insane) amount of injuries the Lightning have been forced to deal with lately, Coach Cooper has had to make many changes to the lineup. Amongst all the chaos, the Triplets line has re-emerged as one of the strongest lines in the lineup.

In other words, missing someone like Johnson from the lineup could be incredibly detrimental to the Lightning’s offense. Tyler Johnson has picked up two goals and two assists for a total of four points in just the last five games. Both of the goals and assists were on multi-point nights, the last of which was on Wednesday night in the Lightning’s 4-3 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens.

As far as the season is concerned, Johnson has played in 37 games with the Lightning this season. It took a little time for Johnson to find his groove this season, but ever since then things have been definitely looking up for the 26-year-old Lightning forward.

In the aforementioned 37 games this season, Johnson has brought home 11 goals and 10 assists for a total of 21 points. This places Tyler Johnson tied for fourth place on the team with his teammate Jonathan Drouin in regards to overall points. Ahead of Johnson are Valtteri Filppula, Victor Hedman, and Nikita Kucherov respectively.

Unfortunately, only time will tell how this story is going to play out. Lightning fans are caught in a catch-22 right now. While no one wants Tyler Johnson to overexert himself and do further damage to his wellbeing, fans also don’t want to see the injury bug claim yet another victim in its mission to make Bolts fans miserable.