The Tampa Bay Lightning had a night to forget in Columbus, falling 8-5 to the Blue Jackets in a game that quickly turned from challenging to chaotic. The loss on the scoreboard was only part of the story - the team also took a major hit on the injury front, most notably losing veteran defenseman Erik Cernak after a heavy collision in the first period.
Cernak’s exit came after a hard shove into the boards from Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier. The hit drew no penalty, though it certainly raised eyebrows.
While there was clear contact from behind, Cernak appeared to turn just before impact - a factor that likely influenced the officials’ decision to keep the whistles silent. Either way, the result was the same: one of Tampa Bay’s most dependable blueliners was done for the night.
And that was just the beginning.
The Lightning were already shorthanded going into the game, dressing only 11 forwards and five defensemen. Things got even thinner when Charle-Edouard D’Astous went down after a knee-on-knee collision with Columbus winger Kirill Marchenko. It was an unfortunate sequence that left Tampa Bay scrambling to patch together defensive pairings on the fly.
Then came another blow: forward Gage Goncalves was missing from the bench to start the second period and didn’t return. By the time the third rolled around, the Lightning were operating with just 11 forwards and four defensemen - a brutal scenario for any team, especially on the road.
The scratches didn’t help either. Jack Finley and Max Crozier were both ruled out before puck drop due to illness, forcing the Lightning to dip into their AHL ranks.
That led to the recall of forward Jakob Pelletier from the Syracuse Crunch. On the blue line, defenseman Simon Lundmark made his NHL debut under less-than-ideal circumstances - not exactly the welcome-to-the-league moment most players dream of.
All told, it was a game where the Lightning were in survival mode from the start. The scoreboard may have shown an 8-5 final, but the real damage could linger longer if Cernak and company are sidelined for any extended stretch. Injuries are part of the grind, especially in the heart of the season, but this was a night where everything seemed to hit at once.
Tampa Bay will need to regroup quickly, both physically and mentally. Depth will be tested, young players will be asked to step up, and the coaching staff will have to get creative with line combinations. It’s gut-check time for the Bolts - and how they respond in the coming days could shape the trajectory of their season.