The injury bug continues its way around the Tampa Bay Lightning clubhouse. According to Tampa Bay Lightning beat writer Chris Krenn, forward Tanner Jeannot was missing at practice earlier today. He left the Jan. 6 against the Boston Bruins early with an apparent injury.
Jeannot is being evaluated today, but Lightning head coach Jon Cooper indicated the 26-year-old could miss time. Krenn also tweeted that Cooper said Jeannot’s status could be week-to-week.
Up to this point, Jeannot had played in all 41 Lightning games. In those games, he has six goals and six assists for 12 points. While the numbers do not reveal much, the Lightning still lose a reliable player with Jeannot, who has taken on the role as muscle for the team this season.
Updates on Sergachev and Cernak
Along with the update on Jeannot, Cooper gave updates on defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak. Sergachev’s update was inauspicious. Cooper didn’t want to give any timetables for Sergachev to return, which is a sign he could be on the long-term injured reserve (LTIR) for quite some time. Sergachev’s last game was on Dec. 19 against the St. Louis Blues.
However, he was positive about Cernak, stating he could be back for Tuesday’s (Jan. 9) home game against the Los Angeles Kings.
The Lightning re-assigning defenseman Jack Thompson back to the Syracuse Crunch could be a corresponding move to Cernak’s return. Thompson played in a single game for the Lightning as part of the defensive shuffle following the announcement of Sergachev and Hayden Fleury being moved to the LTIR.
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Cernak has played in 37 games for the Lightning and has missed very little time, but missed the entirety of the most-recent road trip. His last game was on Dec. 31 against the Montreal Canadiens. He has no goals but has five assists thus far on the year.
The Lightning are about to begin a four-game homestand. They start with the Kings on Tuesday, as previously mentioned, followed by the New Jersey Devils on Thursday and the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. They will stay at home for a game against the Minnesota Wild after a four-day break.