Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper announced that defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak will both be returning to the lineup on Wednesday against the New York Rangers.
Sergachev, 25, has been out of the lineup since December 19th after injuring his foot in a 6-1 win over the St. Louis Blues. He’s missed the past 17 games for Tampa, with the Lightning going 12-5-0 without him in the lineup.
Sergachev 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. It puts him on pace for just 37 points should he remain healthy for the rest of the season, which is where his production has been for the five seasons prior to last year’s breakout.
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’s missed the past seven games for the Lightning, with the team going 6-1-0 without him in the lineup.
Cernak also hasn’t been as productive this season as he usually has been, with just five assists in 39 games on the year. That puts him on pace for nine points should he play out the year, which would be the first time in his NHL career that he hasn’t hit double digits in points.
Based on the defense pairings run during Tampa’s practice on Tuesday, Sergachev and Cernak will play together on the second pair for the Lightning. They’ve been each other’s most common defense partner this season, although they’ve been outscored 13-8 and have a 48.24% expected goal share in 229:36 of ice time together.
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.
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