Brayden Point left Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final for the Tampa Bay Lightning against the New York Islanders at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Wednesday.
The forward may have been injured in the first period and played two shifts in the second period but was not on the ice for the third period.
Tampa Bay won 2-1 on a goal by Nikita Kucherov with nine seconds left to extend its lead in the best-of-7 series.
There was no update on Point from the Lightning afterward. He scored five points (two goals, three assists) in an 8-2 win in Game 1 on Monday. Game 3 is Friday (8 p.m. ET; USA, CBS, SN, TVAS).
“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,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “So maybe tomorrow I’ll have a little bit more for you, but he couldn’t come back tonight.”
Point lost his helmet after he fell awkwardly into the left-wing boards in the offensive zone with seven seconds remaining in the first period. Point was late returning to the Tampa Bay bench at the start of the second period and played two shifts in the opening 5:23 before going back to the locker room.
Point is second in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 15 games, behind Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon, who scored 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists) in 15 games before Colorado was eliminated by the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Second Round.
Point’s departure left the Lightning with nine forwards for the remainder of the game. Tampa Bay, which dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen, also lost forward Alex Killorn 5:55 into the game after he received a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct for a hit on New York forward Brock Nelson.
