Tampa Bay's injury woes continue to mount. Adam Hall became the fifth Lightning player to join the injured list when he was placed on injured reserve before Tuesday's 5-4 shootout loss to Vancouver.
Hall will miss up to eight weeks after tearing a muscle in his forearm in a fight with Ottawa's Matt Carkner on Dec. 5. No surgery is required, but the muscle needs time to heal, according to Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman.
"It will take a few weeks for the muscle to heal and then it will need strengthening," he said. "You get lucky some years and don't suffer many injuries. This one is not a very common injury."
Tampa Bay is already without veteran defenseman Mattias Ohlund, who has yet to play this season following knee surgery on Oct. 11 along with No. 2 defenseman Victor Hedman, who is out indefinitely with a concussion.
Along with Hall, the Lightning are also missing forwards Ryan Shannon (knee sprain) and JT Wyman (finger). Shannon has begun skating on his own and could return by the middle of January. Wyman has also been skating and could miss a few more games before he's ready to return.
It all adds up to a season filled with adversity a year after coming within a game of the Stanley Cup Final.
"In the face of adversity, there's three things: fly, freeze or you got to fight and we're choosing to fight," said head coach Guy Boucher, whose team next hosts the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
