While both teams from the state of Florida picked up big wins on Saturday, it wasn’t a perfect day as each had at least one key player leave with an injury.
The Tampa Bay Lightning lost defenceman Erik Cernak to an apparent lower-body injury in their 7-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Cernak went down awkwardly near the end of the second period and had to leave the ice while not putting any weight on his right leg.
“I don’t want to think that way right now,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told reporters on his concern level for Cernak. “Hopefully he’s gonna be OK.”
Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers lost defenceman Aaron Ekblad when he left Saturday’s 5-1 over the Calgary Flames with a leg injury after colliding with Vladimir Tarasenko late in the first period and did not return.
The Panthers also lost forward Evan Rodrigues after he blocked a slap shot with his ankle late in the second period.
Coach Paul Maurice did not have an update on either player, stating that both need to be evaluated on Sunday. An update will be provided after the team practices on Monday.
— With files from the Associated Press
