The Lightning blue line battled through its share of injuries throughout the regular season, and it took another hit Sunday in Game 1 against the Canadiens when Charle-Edouard D’Astous exited early after a heavy collision in the second period. The Lightning had 339 man-games lost this season, a total that didn’t include the 14 games captain Victor Hedman missed due to personal reasons.
While chasing a loose puck behind his own net, D’Astous was hit simultaneously by two Montreal forwards. Jake Evans made contact from the front, while Josh Anderson came in from behind with a hard hit that sent him to the ice. D’Astous needed help from teammates as he made his way down the tunnel and did not return for the third period.
“He is doubtful for tomorrow, which is unfortunate,” Jon Cooper said Monday. “He has been a great story for us and for himself. You like to see good things happen to good people. He's going to be doubtful for tomorrow, but we've got Crozier and Carlile ready to go in and they've really helped us at the end of the year. One of those guys will get in.”
Anderson was initially assessed a penalty on the play, with officials reviewing the hit for a five-minute major. The call was later reduced to a two-minute minor for charging, and the Lightning capitalized with a power-play goal.
D'Astous was signed to a one-year, two-way contract in May after playing in Finland and Sweden. He came to Tampa in mid-October and immediately made an impact.
“Losing Chucky, he’s a big piece of our team, but it’s kind of been the story all season,” said Darren Raddysh. “There’s guys going down and guys stepping up, and we've got eight great defensemen here right now, and anyone to come in and step in and fill that role and be as good as Chucky has been all year.”
During Monday’s practice, Declan Carlile was paired with Emil Lilleberg, another left-shot defenseman who has played opposite D’Astous. On Tuesday, Jon Cooper said Carlile is expected to draw in for Game 2.
“It’s the next-man up mentality, we’ve had it all year,” said Carlile. “I’m happy I can prove what I can do up here and get some trust from the staff, and they’ve been great to me so far. It’s definitely helped the confidence a lot.”
“Obviously it sucks with Chuck, and hopefully he’s going to be all right,” Carlile added. “I think I just come to the rink every day being ready to play whatever role they need me to play that night, it’s just another game.”
The Lightning also have right-shot defenseman Max Crozier as an option if needed. Both Carlile and Crozier recently returned from long-term injuries. Crozier logged 16:30 in the Lightning’s final regular-season game Wednesday against the Rangers, his first game back after missing more than 10 weeks following a procedure for a lower-body injury.