Lightning's Brayden Point leaves ECF Game 2 vs. Islanders with injury

Tom Gatto

Lightning's Brayden Point leaves ECF Game 2 vs. Islanders with injury image

The Lightning found themselves down to nine forwards on Wednesday night after losing Brayden Point to an injury in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Islanders.

Point went to the locker room for treatment following a shift in the second period and did not return. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Point, Tampa Bay's No. 1 center, appeared to tweak a hamstring.

Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper offered no details after the game about the injury or Point's status.

"I don't have an update on him yet, but we all know the character of that kid and what a competitive gamer he is, so for him not to come back, I know it was tough on him and clearly it was tough on us as well," Cooper said, per NHL.com. "So maybe tomorrow I'll have a little bit more for you, but he couldn't come back tonight."

Tampa Bay was at 10 forwards after losing Alex Killorn to a first-period game misconduct. The Lightning dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Point's departure left the club with just three full forward lines.

NHL PLAYOFFS: Updated TV schedule, scores

Point, 24, is second among NHL players with 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in the postseason (1.53 PTS/GP in 15 games).  He was third on the team with 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) in 66 games during the regular season. 

Tampa Bay managed to win Game 2, 2-1, on a goal by one of those nine forwards, Nikita Kucherov, with 8.8 seconds remaining in regulation. The Lightning now lead the best-of-seven East finals two games to none. Game 3 will be Friday at 8 p.m. ET in the Edmonton bubble.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.