The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that defenseman Erik Cernak suffered an upper-body injury in Thursday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils and would not return.
The incident appears to have occurred with two minutes to go in the first period. Devils’ forward Nathan Bastain laid a hit on Cernak, appearing to make contact with the Lightning defenseman’s head. Lightning forward Gage Goncalves went after Bastain in retaliation.
Cernak is only in his second game back after missing four games with an upper-body injury suffered against the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 31. In 38 games this season, Cernak has five points.
Cernak has played a pivotal role in helping the Bolts win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021. The Kosice, Slovakia product is in the first year of an eight-year, $41.6 million contract; the contract has a cap hit of $5.2 million and runs through 2030-31. He has a no-trade clause from 2024-25 until 2026-27 and then a modified no-trade clause for the remainder of the contract.
Taken by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Cernak has 18 goals and 62 assists for 80 points in six NHL seasons, averaging 19:15 of ice time in 334 career games.
The Lightning are 20-17-5 with 45 poitns through the first half of the 2023-24 regular season, fourth in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division. Going into Thursday night, the Lightning held the second Wild Card spot in the East.
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