Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev had a short-lived return to the lineup, as he’s left Wednesday’s game against the New York Rangers on a stretcher.
The incident occurred midway through the second period of the game when Sergachev, 25, went in for a hit on Alexis Lafreniere. The Rangers winger defended the hit with a reverse hit, which caused Sergachev to fall to the ice, and he appeared to be in severe pain afterwards, creating the need for a stretcher.
It’s unclear as to what the injury is, but Sergachev appeared to be holding his left leg, so it’s possible it was either hurt on the fall or Lafreniere’s skate blade made contact with it. There has yet to be any word on how long he will be out with the injury.
Sergachev leaves the game with one hit in 10:22 of ice time, with the Lightning losing 1-0 at the time of his departure.
The injury comes in Sergachev’s first game back since injuring his foot in a 6-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on December 19th. He’s already missed 17 games this season with injuries.
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 34 games this season. It puts him on pace for just 36 points had he been healthy for the rest of the season, which is where his production has been for the five seasons prior to last year’s breakout.
Sergachev is a former 9th-overall selection of the Montreal Canadiens in the 2016 NHL Draft, playing just four games for the Habs in the 2016-17 season before he was traded to the Lightning as part of the return for Jonathan Drouin. He’s since spent the past seven seasons with Tampa Bay, winning two Stanley Cups with the team in 2020 and 2021.
The Lightning entered Wednesday’s game against the Rangers in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 27-18-5 record.
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