Bolts Lose Game, Stamkos and Salo

The Tampa Bay Lightning were dealt a serious blow on Monday afternoon, as their number one guy, Steven Stamkos, suffered a broken leg in the matinee game against the Boston Bruins. Stamkos was in a defensive posture, trying to protect his own net from an oncoming Dougie Hamilton, when he fell to the ice and his skate hit the post at full speed, sliding on the ice. Stamkos tried to get back to the bench on his own, but couldn't, having to be stretchered off the ice and taken to hospital. Later in the afternoon, the Lightning announced that Stamkos did endure a broken leg and that he would require surgery, which will keep him out of the line-up indefinitely.

Stamkos came into Week Seven tied for the league lead in goals with 14, was 3rd in pool scoring with 23 points (now 4th after Monday's game) and scoring at a 1.35 points per game click.  All of this will be lifted out of the Tampa Bay Lightning line-up, a team that fell to the Boston Bruins, 3-0, on Monday, which included the loss of Stamkos, and they still sit on top of the Atlantic Division, but with only a 1-point lead on those same Bruins and only a mild gap from missing the playofffs altogether.

Also in the game, defenseman Sami Salo left with a lower-body injury and didn't return.  His injury is leg related and there wasn't any more announced by the team after the game.  He will be considered day-to-day for the time being.

Salo, a fixture on my injury prone list, did manage to play in 16 games to this point in the season, scoring 1 goal and adding 4 assists.  Salo finished Monday in 348th in pool scoring with his 5 points and will be missed on Tampa's blueline.

There is no question that Stamkos is the team leader for Allan S., who has jumped up to 2nd place in the pool standings in Week Six, so it will be a tough slog without him and it raises the question of what Allan will do with him at the Waiver Draft in a week's time.

Allan's team hasn't been all Stamkos to get up the money spots this season, as he does have seven more players in double-digits in points on his team, which will soften the blow, but nevertheless, an extended period of time without Stamkos may hurt his overall standing.

If Allan stays up in the money this week, he won't have a great pick position in the Waiver Draft, but it will come down to whether or not Stamkos is good enough to keep while he's hurt or whether he wants a lesser player to fill in the spot and not likely getting him back in the second Waiver Draft, when it comes around.

Salo belongs to Leo M. in the draft, who sits in 17th place after Monday afternoon's game.  Leo is sitting in some reasonable shape in the standings, only a few points out of a great lift in the standings.  If Salo can get back in the line-up right away, he should be in okay shape.