The Lightning expected to be without Jeannot and Sergachev heading into their four-game homestand.
Head coach Jon Cooper indicated at practice on Monday that the Lightning will be without Mikhail Sergachev and Tanner Jeannot for the foreseeable future as they deal with injuries. The team has been hit with the injury bug as of late, but they have been able to utilize players from Syracuse.
Here are the updates from today:
Defenseman Erik Cernak - Cernak was back on the ice and a full participant in practice on Monday. The veteran defenseman has been sidelined with an upper-body injury since the start of the new year, last playing on Dec. 31 against the Montreal Canadiens where he was limited to only 6:39 of playing time.
Head coach Jon Cooper indicated that they'll likely have him back for tomorrow night’s game against the Kings. In addition, Jack Thompson was re-assigned to Syracuse on Monday, another sign that Cernak will return.
Forward Tanner Jeannot - Jon Cooper also gave an update on the status of Lightning forward Tanner Jeannot this morning. Jeannot took a huge hit into the boards in the second period of Saturday’s game in Boston.
Cooper said Jeannot is expected to undergo further evaluation. When he was asked if the injury is something that could be week-to-week, Cooper said, “Yeah, I would think so.”
Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev - Sergachev has been out of the lineup since December 19th after taking a puck to the back of his left foot. He was in a boot and had a scooter, immediately following the game that night and was later placed on LTIR.
When Cooper was asked on Monday if Sergachev was on pace to return when eligible on January 13th he said, “I wouldn’t put any hard and fast dates on it. They’ve got some significant injuries. It’s unfortunate they’re all kind of piling up at the same time. Hopefully we’ll have Cernak back for tomorrow, so we’ll see about that.”
Defenseman Haydn Fleury - The Lightning placed Haydn Fleury on LTIR after he left the game early in a win over Montreal on Dec. 31st. He is not eligible to return until Jan. 22nd.
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