In a key divisional matchup against the Ottawa Senators, the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to be without two key pieces of their forward lineup.
Moments before warmups started at Benchmark International Arena, the Lightning announced that forwards Nikita Kucherov and Nick Paul are going to be out of the lineup due to illness.
With every point mattering at this stage of the season, it's tough for the Lightning to lose two important players against a divisional rival. To make things even more difficult, the Lightning are on the first half of a weekend back-to-back as they'll face the Nashville Predators tomorrow. At this time, it's unknown if either player will be ready to go for that game.
Kucherov, the NHL's leading scorer, has been on a dominant run as of late. He's already scored his 40th goal of the season, his fourth time hitting that plateau, in just 67 games while tallying a total of 121 points so far.
While Paul's offensive contributions are nowhere near as valuable as Kucherov's, he plays an important role in the Lightning's bottom-six. In 41 games, Paul has scored six goals and seven assists for a total of 13 points.