It appears the Tampa Bay Lightning will be without one of their most reliable depth forwards, Pontus Holmberg after he was injured in Monday’s game in Buffalo.
The injury occurred with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation. Holmberg was checked into the boards by Peyton Krebs in front of the Sabres penalty box. He was slow to get up, holding his left shoulder area before making his way down the tunnel in frustration.
A closer look at the play showed the penalty box door opening for Buffalo's Zach Benson right as Holmberg hit the ice. Benson's penalty expired with 7:20 left in the period, and play stopped with 7:16 left on the clock.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper expressed frustration after the game.
“I don’t know who’s working the penalty box over there, but I don’t know if they should keep their job after what happened there, leaving the door open,” said Cooper. “That could have hurt anybody on either team. Those are just dangerous situations so a little frustrated on my part, to be honest.”
When asked about Holmberg’s status, Cooper said he was “not good.”
A league spokesperson said the NHL would look into the matter. In the meantime, the Lightning are set to complete a back-to-back and are expected to call up forwards Conor Geekie, Dylan Duke, and Jakob Pelletier from the Syracuse Crunch ahead of Tuesday's game in Ottawa.
As of Tuesday morning, there has been no official update on Holmberg.