Sam O’Reilly Set to Make NHL Debut With Lightning

On Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Lightning placed center Brayden Point on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.

Point, who has five goals and 16 points in 17 games this season, left Sunday’s game in Winnipeg after logging just 5:35 of ice time over six shifts.

The Lightning then recalled forward prospect Sam O’Reilly from the Syracuse Crunch.

“He's used in a lot of good situations down in the minors that are important,” Lightning assistant Dan Hinote said. “He's taking on a big responsibility right away, which is what you want for his development. When he comes up here, this will be a great test to see where he's at.”

O’Reilly, 20, skated alongside Yanni Gourde and Jake Guentzel at Lightning practice Tuesday, while also getting a look on the team’s top power-play unit. He can also take faceoffs on his right side, an area where the Lightning have needed a boost over the past two seasons.

“I would expect he'll get an opportunity on the stage to win that draw in the D-zone for us or the O-zone or wherever, and then see," said Hinote. "Coop's great about that. Coop is going to give you as much rope as you can handle, so hopefully those opportunities present themselves next game.”

After learning of his NHL opportunity, O’Reilly’s first call was to his mother, who plans to be at the KeyBank Center on Wednesday. He could tell just by listening to her, that she had tears in her eyes.

“She didn’t believe it at the start, and I told her it was actually real and she kind of lost it.”

“I don't think anything really matches playing in the NHL,” said O’Reilly, “so it's obviously a dream come true. Whenever the moment comes, it comes, and I’ve just gotta be ready for it.”