Lightning’ Erik Cernak, Michael Eyssimont to Miss Game 2, Victor Hedman a Game-Time Decision Against Maple Leafs
The Tampa Bay Lightning may get Tanner Jeannot in the lineup or Game 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs but will be without Erik Cernak, Michael Eyssimont and possibly their best defenseman in Victor Hedman.
The Tampa Bay Lightning may have had their way against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, but it was Tampa that left the game physically wounded.
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Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told reporters that defenseman Erik Cernak and forward Michael Eyssimont will not play in Game 2.
Cernak left Tuesday's series opener with the Maple Leafs when he was the recipient of an illegal check to the head from Toronto forward Michael Bunting and did not return.
Bunting was given a five-minute major and match penalty on the play. He has a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety to determine any supplemental discipline.
Forward Michael Eyssimont left Tuesday's game after he was checked hard by Toronto's Jake McCabe.
Tampa defeated the Maple Leafs 7-3 in the opening game of their first-round best-of-seven series. They did while play most of the game with Cernak, Eyssimont, and arguably their best defenseman in Victor Hedman, who departed early in the second period.
Hedman will be a game-time decision, according to Cooper. And while Tampa’s defense took a big hit without their top pair available, they could get Tanner Jeannot in the lineup for Game 2.
“I’m feeling really good, just got to wait and see I guess but, yes, everything is feeling really good and trainers did a great job and feeling good on the ice so we’ll see,” Jeannot told reporters.”
Jeannot suffered a leg injury when he was tangled along the boards with New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield on April 6.
The Lightning made a big splash at the trade deadline line but picking up the brusing forward from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Cal Foote, a conditional first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and a third, fourth and fifth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Cooper declared Jeannot a possibility for Game 2.
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