The Tampa Bay Lightning will once again be without defenseman Erik Cernak, who was announced as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury short before puck-drop, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. He has missed Tampa Bay’s last three games since suffering an undisclosed injury on January 16th. Cernak left that game after just one shift but didn’t seem to suffer a clear injury.
Cernak has returned to the Lightning’s top four this season. The 27-year-old has scored 10 assists and averaged 18:15 in ice time through 41 games, putting him on pace to narrowly pass his career-high of 18 points set during the shortened 2020-21 campaign. He has been replaced in the lineup by rookie Maxwell Crozier, who’s still searching for his first point of the season after three NHL games. Crozier has also scored nine points in 22 AHL games this year. Cernak’s absence will likely return Crozier to the team’s second pair next to Ryan McDonagh, while Darren Raddysh’s role on the top pair will go unchallenged for at least one more game.