Multiple Tampa Bay Lightning players return to practice from injuries
The Tampa Bay Lightning got some good news on Monday, as several players practiced in regular jerseys and seem close to a return to the lineup.
a look at the #Bolts lines and D pairings from practice:
Stamkos – Point – Kucherov
Hagel – Cirelli – Paul
Eyssimont – Motte – Sheary
Jeannot – Glendening – Chaffee
Barré-Boulet and Watson
Hedman – Raddysh
Sergachev – Cernak
Lilleberg – Perbix
de Haan – Fleury
Wingers Tanner Jeannot and Austin Watson and defensemen Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak, and Haydn Fleury all participated in Monday’s practice and were in regular lines, indicating that the five players will likely return soon.
Jeannot, 26, has been out of the lineup since January 6th after suffering an upper-body during a 7-3 loss to the Boston Bruins. He has yet to live up to his performance in his rookie season, with just 6 goals and 6 assists for 12 points in 41 games this season.
Watson, 32, has been out of the lineup since January 21st after suffering a lower-body injury during a 2-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. He’s also seen his fair share of healthy scratches this season, as he’s only played 26 games with just 2 goals and 1 assist for 3 points on the year.
Sergachev, 25, has been out of the lineup since December 19th after injuring his foot in a 6-1 over the St. Louis Blues. He hasn’t quite matched the production from his career best year in 2022-23, with just 2 goals and 17 assists for 19 points in 33 games this season.
Cernak, 26, has been out of the lineup since January 11th after suffering an upper-body injury in a 4-3 overtime win over the New Jersey Devils. He also hasn’t been as productive this season as he usually has been, with just five assists in 39 games on the year.
Fleury, 27, has been out of the lineup since December 31st after injuring his hand in a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens. He’s struggled to get into the lineup all season, with just 12 games on the year and a goal and three assists for four points in those games.
The Lightning will hope that these returns will help bolster their lineup even more amidst a stretch of eight wins in their last nine games when they visit New York to face the Rangers on Wednesday at 7 p.m. EST. They currently sit in third in the Atlantic Division with a 27-18-5 record.