Lightning’s Nick Paul out vs. Blue Jackets with undisclosed injury

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper has announced that winger Nick Paul will miss Thursday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets due to an undisclosed injury.

Paul left midway through the second period of Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nothing specific happened to Paul during his final shift, but at one point he clearly tweaks something in his lower-body and returns to the bench in some pain. Paul finished the game with three shots and one hit in 10:38 of ice time.

The Lightning complete a two-game road trip tonight in Columbus, so the plan for Paul is to be reevaluated when they return to Tampa. Until then, we have no specifics on what the injury is or the severity of it, as well as a possible timeline for return.

As of right now, it’s unclear as to who will replace Paul on the Lightning’s second line alongside Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel. Cam Atkinson was the team’s only healthy scratch up front, so it’s likely that he draws into the lineup, unless the Lightning instead decide to play Nick Perbix and go with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen.

Paul and the Lightning will have to hope that the injury isn’t too long term, because it might disrupt what was an excellent start to the season for him. He had 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points in 17 games, which is a 61-point pace if he finishes the year and would easily be a career-best for him.

Paul is currently in the third year of a seven-year contract with a $3.15 million cap hit.

The Lightning will look to extend their three-game winning streak when they visit the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Thursday at 7 p.m. EST. Tampa Bay currently sits in third in the Atlantic Division with a 10-6-1 record.