Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos was listed as "day-to-day" with a lower-body injury that kept him out of the team's 5-2 loss vs. the Ottawa Senators. And tonight, Stamkos will not be in action when the Lightning travel to Buffalo to play the Sabres.
Before he went down with an injury, Stamkos was enjoying a solid start to the season, scoring four points and two goals. With him missing tonight's contest, it will serve as yet another setback for Tampa.
With goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy already out for at least the next two months with a back injury, the Lightning will undoubtedly count on their top scorers to help them win games in the early going of 2023-24. Stamkos missing tonight's game is yet another setback for the Lightning as they face a Buffalo Sabres unit that made a living giving opposing teams a tough time last season.
Most teams were forced to rely on their top scorers to beat Buffalo, and with Stamkos set to miss tonight's game, it forces the Lightning to once again look to top players like Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov to keep pace with Buffalo. If there is any good news for the Lightning, it's that the Sabres have yet to find their rhythm offensively this season, but that can change at a moment's notice.
Steven Stamkos' injury history
Stamkos has endured quite the injury history, and he's dealt with multiple lower-body issues over the past six seasons. He missed time in March and April 2018 with lower-body injuries before they crept up again in November 2019, and again in February 2020.
Before the NHL returned to action in August 2020, lower-body issues again struck Stamkos, and they also crept back up in February and April 2021. In March 2023, Stamkos again hit the injury report, this time with a specified leg injury.
Source: Fox Sports
Tampa Bay Lightning injury report
- Tyler Motte (upper body)
- Andrei Vasilevskiy (back)
Buffalo Sabres injury report
- Jack Quinn (Achilles)
- Matt Savoie (shoulder/elbow)
(All statistics and the injury report provided by Hockey-Reference)
